Robert Burns was a farm labourer who became an instant literary celebrity when he published his poems in 1786. He was regarded as the perfect embodiment of a Romantic genius. His works were read (both in the original version and in translations) throughout Europe where a romanticised idea of Scotland as a pre-modern land of noble savages became more and more popular. Today, Burns is regarded as Scotland´s national poet, and some of his poems have become part of annual rituals such as the Burns supper.
Burns wrote with humour and enthusiasm about love and his love affairs, about beer and whisky, about freedom and equality, about ghosts and witches – and many other things besides. He also collected traditional Scottish songs and wrote new ones. There are arrangements of his songs by Haydn and Beethoven, but they can also be heard in modern versions today.
We are going to work on some his most important poems and songs and their cultural contexts, so this seminar will also serve as an introduction to some key aspects of Scottish literature and culture. We will also listen to various musical settings of his songs, and quite possibly to some live music. Please buy: Robert Burns (ed.: Carol McGuirk), Selected Poems (Penguin Classics), ISBN: 9780140423822. Very useful background knowledge on key cultural and literary contexts of Robert Burns and his works can be found here: Christoph Heyl, Kleine Englische Literaturgeschichte. J.B. Metzler. ISBN-13: 978-3476045096.
Requirements: Good preparation for each session, active participation. As always: think, enjoy (!), annotate, and look things up if necessary. Also anything that might be required according to your Modulhandbuch / Studienordnung.
We currently assume that teaching will be entirely on campus and in person. This, however depends on the further development of the Pandemic. Watch this space, and read all e-mails sent to your official university e-mail address.
Please join the seminar´s Moodle room (Robert Burns). You will receive further information, including the Moodle password, via e-mail. Please make sure to use and check your official university e-mail addresses at all times. Do not use any other addresses, and do not have e-mails sent to your university address forwarded to other addresses.
Just in case your application is rejected by the LSF system: If you want to do this course because you are genuinely interested, you will be most welcome, no matter what LSF says. Please get in touch with claudia.hausmann@uni-due.de who will enrol you manually. The worst that might happen to you is that you cannot do a Leistungsnachweis if you lack the formal requirements. |
