This lecture will provide a systematic introduction to narrative, the emphasis being on fictional narrative in prose, i.e. on novels and short stories. It will discuss such topics as plot, setting, free indirect thought (Erlebte Rede), flashback, point of view, unreliable narrator, etc. While it is my aim to give a rigorous and systematic description of the various components of narrative, I will attempt not to indulge in terminological nitpicking. Instead, I will attempt to show that the terms offered by narrative theory can be used in interpreting a text; in other words, I will point out the meanings or effects created by particular narrative choices. The lecture will be based on David Lodge’s comic novel, The British Museum is falling Down, and a selection of shorter texts. Master students may take the lecture in connection with the Übung “British and Canadian Short Studies”, but of course this is not a must. Students who wish to prepare for the lecture may read Franz Stanzel, Typische Formen des Romans, 10th ed. (Göttingen: Vandenhoek und Ruprecht, 1981) or chs. 1 and 6 in Wayne Booth, The Rhetoric of Fiction, 2nd ed. (Chicago: Chicago UP, 1983); for more advanced students, I recommend Gérard Genette, Die Erzählung , 2nd ed. (Stuttgart: UTB, 1998).

Required text: David Lodge, The British Museum is Falling Down (Penguin pb.); all other texts will be provided by way of Blackboard

Thu 8-10

Requirements for credit points: final written exam

Enrolment: VSPL

First meeting: October 18

British and Canadian Short Stories

If you want to brush up your skills in the analysis of narrative texts, focusing on such aspects as point of view, setting, thought representation etc., then this is the course for you. We will read and analyse one short story per week. Writers to be discussed will include Robert Louis Stevenson, Joseph Conrad, Rudyard Kipling, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, Margaret Atwood and Alice Munro. Students who take this course may think about attending the related lecture “Narrative Theory”, but of course this is not a must.

Requirements for credit points: short paper.

Required text: as I will plan this course over the summer, I have not yet decided whether to use a published anthology or to use Blackboard/a reader. I will let you know asap on my website or by email after you have registered

Thu 10-12

Enrolment: VSPL

First meeting: October 18

Approaches to Oscar Wilde

For a long time, academics considered Oscar Wilde a show-off, not a serious writer worthy of scholarly study. But more recently, with the advent of gender studies and cultural studies, Wilde has attracted a lot of interest, both for his homosexuality and for his talent at creating a larger-than-life public persona. In this Forschungs­seminar, we will first analyse Wilde’s two most famous works, The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest, using traditional, text-centered approaches such as character, plot and genre. Then we will look at and discuss a selection of recent studies of these works.

Requirement: you need a Gut (2,0) or better grade in a literary studies or cultural studies paper at master level to participate in this seminar.

Credit for seminar (5 CP): participation in expert group / presentation plus paper. Credit for Übung (3 CP): participation in expert group / presentation plus short written assignment.

Required text: Oscar Wilde, The Major Works, ed. Isobel Murray (Oxford: OUP, 2000). Additional texts will be made available by way of Blackboard.

Tue 14-16

Enrolment: VSPL

First meeting: October 16

Introduction to Literature

Fri 10-12

Enrolment: VSPL

First meeting: October 19