This seminar will give an introduction to the topic of history and memory in literature. As Hayden White has shown how historical works are shaped by narrative strategies, we will look at the possibilities literature has to connect historical events with personal memories of (often) fictional characters and how this can achieve a different perspective. The novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao deals with a Dominican Family under the regime of Trujillo while Perec's W and Spiegelman's Maus both tell stories set during the Second World War. While Maus is a comic book, W is a memoir echoing Proust's famous Recherche. To add further vistas I will provide some additional texts. All participants should take a look at the vast literature concerning this topic and create an outline. Since the course will be held a week before the regular semester begins, please sign up by e-mailing me at alexander.greiffenstern@uni-due.de by September 24. The class can be taken as a seminar in literary studies or as a reading course. Requirements: - Reading the assignments.
- Handing in one thesis outline. Due October 1, 2010.
Course Readings: Junot Diaz. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. London: Faber & Faber, 2008. (ISBN: 978-0571241231) Georges Perec. W, or the Memory of Childhood. David R. Godine, 2003. (ISBN: 978-1567921588) Art Spiegelman. (The Complete) Maus. Penguin, 2003. (ISBN: 978-0141014081) A reader with some additional texts. |
