Seminar: Seminar: Contemporary Chicano Literature - Aufbaumodul - Details

Seminar: Seminar: Contemporary Chicano Literature - Aufbaumodul - Details

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General information

Course name Seminar: Seminar: Contemporary Chicano Literature - Aufbaumodul
Subtitle Aufbaumodul amerikanische Literatur
Course number ANG.05280.03; ANG.04628.03
Semester WiSe 2024/25
Current number of participants 15
maximum number of participants 25
Home institute Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik
Courses type Seminar in category Offizielle Lehrveranstaltungen
Next date Friday, 10.01.2025 14:15 - 15:45, Room: Seminarraum 2 [AKStr.35] (Angl.)
Pre-requisites All students who have completed their Introduction to English or American Literary Studies are welcome to attend this class.
Learning organisation This class doesn't start until November and as such will have three extended sessions that month (2pm-6pm).

Please buy the three novels listed below and familiarize yourselves with them before class begins in November.

Alire Sáenz, Benjamin. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.
Anaya, Rudolfo. Bless Me, Ultima.
Castillo, Ana. So Far From God.
Performance record Students will need to pass three quizzes 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. plus 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) of ca. 12-15 pages, whereas students in education programs will have to take an oral exam of 30 min. The BA essays are due in March.
Studiengänge (für) BA Anglistik und Amerikanistik 60 + 90 LP
LA Gym, Sek, Förderschule Englisch
SWS 2
ECTS points 5

Module assignments

Comment/Description

In the course of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, Mexican Americans across the US claimed for themselves the ethnic self-denomination ‘Chicano’. The political upheaval of the 60s gave a boost to literatures of ethnic expression and Chican@/Chicanx authors - both more recent terms aim at gender inclusivity - have since then created a diverse and rich literary tradition of exploring US Latinx culture through narrative and have simultaneously aimed at expanding what it means to be 'American'. Chicanx authors often create their works as a means to express and represent themselves and their ethnic group and as such their literature often straddles borders, moves between languages, and negotiates cultural differences.

This class will start off with with an overview of the possible answers to such basic questions as 'Who is considered Chicanx?'; 'What is Chicanx literature?'; 'Which time frame has to be considered for Chicanx literature?'. We will then move chronologically through contemporary Chicanx literary tradition with a selection of primary works from a variety of fictional genres and simultaneously take socio-political circumstances of literary production into account. The course's required reading includes novels - such as the classic 'Bless Me, Ultima' by Rudolfo Anaya and the recent bestseller 'Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe' by Benjamin Alire Sáenz -, short stories, poetry, and also some partially non-fictional texts, such as Gloria E. Anzaldúa’s groundbreaking work 'Borderlands/La Frontera'.

Admission settings

The course is part of admission "Beschränkte Teilnehmendenanzahl: Seminar: Contemporary Chicano Literature - Aufbaumodul".
The following rules apply for the admission:
  • A defined number of seats will be assigned to these courses.
    The seats in the affected courses have been assigned at 20.09.2024 on 08:00. Additional seats may be available via a wait list.
  • The enrolment is possible from 20.09.2024, 08:00 to 11.10.2024, 20:00.