LFU:online

Institut für Amerikastudien Institut für Amerikastudien

Mag. Dr. Andreas Leisner Mag. Dr. Andreas Leisner

610004

American Literature: The Sky?s the Limit: The American Myth of the Frontier

PS 2

5

wöch.

semestral

Englisch

To acquaint students with the concept of the frontier and its employment in American literature.

From the “howling, hideous” wilderness of Puritan times to the space age, the concept of the frontier has been an essential component of American culture and an often revisited topic of American literature. This course is intended to provide a theoretical and historical overview of the concept of the frontier via diverse discourses and perspectives, which course members will then apply to their respective primary works. Students will analyze sources taken from film and literature and explore the frontier in works by e.g. James Fenimore Cooper, Frederick Jackson Turner, James Dickey, Henry David Thoreau, Jim Jarmusch, Jon Krakauer, and several others.

Introduction to the topic, discussion, presentation of papers

Active participation, reading of theoretical texts, term paper (10-15 pages), presentation of papers in class

Provided at the beginning of the semester

Anmeldevoraussetzung/en im BA: positive Beurteilung der Pflichtmodule 3 und 16 Anmeldevoraussetzung im Lehramtsstudium: VO2: Introduction to American Literary Studies Entspricht im Lehramtsstudium (344): PS2: American Literature
Beginn: 5.3.2012