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Religion is a pervasive element of the American experience with 95% of Americans indicating that they believe in some sort of God or Higher Power (cf. Forbes 11). The examination of religious aspects and spirituality in literary texts and especially in the popular culture has flourished in recent years. In this course, we will explore how various religions are represented in literary texts. Among the authors to be discussed are Philip Roth, Ana Castillo, Cherrie Moraga, Alice Walker, and Alicia Gaspar de Alba. Additionally, we will take a look at religious aspects in American popular culture, such as music and film. Madonna’s music videos, the films Gran Torino, Trade – Welcome to America, and Keeping the Faith will function as examples for religious discourses. By doing so, we will tackle the question of the relationship between religion and American identity and see how religious aspects are interconnected with other social categories such as ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, and gender.
A reader of course material will be available at the copy shop at Reckhammerweg 4 in the course of the first week of the semester.
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