Seminar: 19th Century American Melodrama - Details

Seminar: 19th Century American Melodrama - Details

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Allgemeine Informationen

Veranstaltungsname Seminar: 19th Century American Melodrama
Veranstaltungsnummer ANG.05280.03; ANG.06158.01
Semester SoSe 2026
Aktuelle Anzahl der Teilnehmenden 23
erwartete Teilnehmendenanzahl 25
Heimat-Einrichtung Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik
Veranstaltungstyp Seminar in der Kategorie Offizielle Lehrveranstaltungen
Erster Termin Dienstag, 07.04.2026 12:15 - 13:45, Ort: Seminarraum 7 (R.1.32) [EA 26-27]
Lehrsprache(n) Deutsch

Modulzuordnungen

Kommentar/Beschreibung

Brooks famously defined melodrama as a “mode of excess.” Stage melodrama was a popular 19th century dramatic genre that capitalized on a clear dichotomy of good and bad, pathos, certain plot developments, and stage spectacle. These 19th century dramas were often dismissed as too popular, yet these texts accomplished important cultural work at the time, negotiating pressing social and political problems and questions that occupied people and were crucial for questions of national self-definition: How to deal with the past and presence of Indigenous peoples? And how do they fit into a national mythology? In what ways can political agency be defined? How to grapple with the institution of slavery and the separation between the North and the South on the question of abolitionism? How to define social positionality and mobility, e.g., in light of gender roles or the concept of class in the 19th century?

Preliminary list of pimary texts:

James Nelson Barker: The Indian Princess (1808)
Robert Montgomery Bird: The Gladiator (1831)
Anna Cora Mowatt: Fashion (1845)
Dion Boucicault: The Octoroon (1859)
Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins: Peculiar Sam, or The Underground Railroad (1879)
Dorothy Arzner: Craig’s Wife (based on George Kelly’s 1925 play Craig’s Wife) OR: W.H. Griffith: Way Down East (based on Lottie Blair Parker’s 1898 melodrama Way Down East)

Students are required to buy a hard copy of the following book:

Richards, Jeffrey H., editor. Early American Drama. Penguin Books, 1997. Penguin Classics. ISBN: 9780140435887

We will distribute dates for student presentations in the first week of the semester. Students are asked to familiarize themselves with the texts on the syllabus so that they can sign up for texts that are closest to their academic interest.

Modulprüfungen:
• BA-Students: Term Paper (6.000 words +/- 10%)
• LA-Students: Oral Exam

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