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. Ariel Dorfman tells his life story from the perspective of the coup on September 11, 1973 in Chile, 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.
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 2nd.
Requirements:
- Reading the assignments.
- Giving a presentation (I will provide a list of topics)
- Writing an essay
Course Readings:
Ariel Dorfman. Heading South, Looking North: A Bilingual Journey. Penguin, 1999. (ISBN: 978-0140282535)
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. |
