LFU:online

Institut für Amerikastudien Institut für Amerikastudien

Mag. Dr. Lucia Birgit Blasl Mag. Dr. Lucia Birgit Blasl

610009

American Dreams, American Nightmares: Great American Plays of the 20th Century

PS 2

wöch.

keine Angabe

Englisch

In this course we will explore American drama in its historical, social, and cultural contexts from the 1920s onwards. We will discuss works by playwrights such as Eugene O’Neill, Elmer Rice, Lillian Hellman, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Edward Albee, Lorraine Hansberry and Tony Kushner. Although the analysis of the dramatic texts will be our main focus, we will also take a look at a couple of theater performances and film adaptations. Central themes in the plays will include: facets of the American Dream, industrialization, dehumanization, identity, racial discrimination, homosexuality, self-deception, betrayal, family values, abandonment, alienation and loneliness, and the social and political significance of the AIDS epidemic.

Reading of the texts, active class-participation, study questions, presentation, final exam, research paper (10-12 pages)

written and oral

Students must have passed the "Introduction to American Literature and Culture" to attend this course
Beginn: 11.10.2007