MLU
Seminar: 'The Magic and the Real': Magic Realism in US Literature - Details
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General information

Course name Seminar: 'The Magic and the Real': Magic Realism in US Literature
Course number ANG.05280.03; 03202.02; 04628.03
Semester WS 2018/19
Current number of participants 12
expected number of participants 30
Home institute Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik
Courses type Seminar in category Offizielle Lehrveranstaltungen
First date Tuesday, 23.10.2018 12:00 - 14:00, Room: (EA 26-29; SR 9)
Pre-requisites Students who have successfully passed their "Introduction to Literary Studies” are welcome to this class on selected US works of magic realism.
Learning organisation Please buy the novels listed below and familiarize yourselves with them before class begins.

Díaz, Junot. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.
Erdrich, Louise. Tracks.
Morrison, Toni. Beloved.
Performance record Students will need to pass two quizzes and present on a reading task if they want credit for this seminar. Quizzes are announced tests checking whether students have read the novels in sufficient depth for class discussion.
Please, do not miss more than three sessions as our classes will provide you with the absolutely necessary opportunity of discussing your interpretations and interacting with your co-students and the lecturer. All students are expected to participate actively in discussions.
Also, students must present in class (15 min. + discussion time) on a topic to be arranged with the lecturer and accompanied by a handout (Thesenpapier). Your handout is expected by your lecturer a week before your presentation is due. A copy of the reviewed handout must be available to all students on the day of presentation.
Reading assignments (primary literature AND secondary literature) will be given on a weekly basis.
At the end of the semester BA students will have to write a term paper (Hausarbeit), whereas students in education programs will have to take an oral exam.
Studiengänge (für) BA, LAS, LAG
SWS 2
ECTS points 5

Rooms and times

Seminarraum 9 (R.2.36) [EA 26-27]
Tuesday: 12:00 - 14:00, weekly (4x)
(EA 26-29; SR 9)
Tuesday: 12:00 - 14:00, weekly (9x)
No room preference
Friday, 16.11.2018 15:00 - 18:00

Module assignments

Comment/Description

With the popularity of Rowling's Hogwarts, Tolkien's Middle-earth, and dystopian societies as portrayed in The Hunger Games or The Handmaid's Tale, it is unarguably obvious that alternate, invented worlds align with the interests of today's reader. This class will delve into one of the most popular literary modes of the 20th century, magic realism, which intended - and indeed intends - to walk the fine line between portraying life 'as it really is' and making room for or even highlighting magical instances within ordinary life. Salman Rushdie, a prominent British novelist, promotes imagination as a tool to enrich reality in his magic realist fiction while simultaneously reminding readers to expect an equal amount of realism and magic in this special brand of fiction. Magic realism is undoubtedly an international phenomenon; its roots can be traced from the 1920s German art scene to the Latin-American Boom Literature of the 1960s, after which it spread to world literature. In this class, we will be focusing on magic realism in US literature since 1970. Our first sessions will contrast realist, naturalist, magic realist, and fantastic short stories to allow students to explore story world realisms and their effects. We will also be discussing magic realism's potential as an instrument of post-colonial critique in fiction before moving on to reading and discussing three novels by three canonical ethnic minority authors: Toni Morrison's Beloved centers on a haunted house and the trauma suffered by formerly enslaved Blacks. Louise Erdrich's Tracks takes the reader to a fictional Native American reservation where traditional ways of living and believing clash with the westernizing influence of white Christian culture. Lastly, Junot Díaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao presents a family saga of political violence, diaspora, and a lethal transgenerational curse.

If you are interested in a quick-read but nevertheless informative (beware: non-scholarly) introduction to magic realism, then I recommend you take a look at these two websites:
1. https://www.vox.com/2014/4/20/5628812/11-questions-youre-too-embarrassed-to-ask-about-magical-realism
2. https://booksonthewall.com/blog/magical-realism-literature/

Admission settings

The course is part of admission "Zeitgesteuerte Anmeldung: 'The Magic and the Real': Magic Realism in US Literature".
The following rules apply for the admission:
  • The enrolment is possible from 01.09.2018, 00:00 to 21.10.2018, 23:59.