London, the prototype of the Western Metropolis, it has been experienced as frustrating and exhilarating in equal measure, as a place that can be both intimately familiar and unknowable in its vast entirety. Poetry has always provided ways of reacting to the grand challenge that is London. To look at poems on London through the centuries is to look at the development of a great city as well as the development of its perception in an important genre in urban literature.
We shall do close readings of selected poems (from the Middle Ages to the present day). This course will help to develop both your understanding of poetry and your knowledge of London and its rich cultural history.
A reader will be made available (to be obtained from the usual place, Reckhammerweg 4, in late September). Requirements: thorough preparation for each session, active participation, and written work according to your particular Studienordnung. As always: read, think, enjoy (!!), annotate (!) and look things up if necessary.
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