LFU:online

The aim of the seminar is to introduce the students to the tradition of Argentinian fantastic texts. Students will get an overview of fantastic literature of the late 19th century, as well as the 20th century in Argentina - from Macedonio Fernández to Julio Cortázar and others, up to and including Samanta Schweblin. We focus on short stories written by the author Jorge Luis Borges who is at the center of the fantastic genre in Argentina.

In this PS we will deal with various short stories of the fantastic genre - that is, narrations that move between reality and dream and raise the same question of what "really" happened. Thus, the texts discuss philosophical questions such as those about reality and possibility as concepts and/or terms. In Argentina, where the fantastic genre traditionally holds a special place in literary tradition, it is the author Jorge Luis Borges who famously leaves his mark upon the genre. But also his literary "predecessors" as well as his "descendants" will be discussed in the seminar to analize this mysterious fantastic writing. Furthermore, we will read theories on fantastic literature.

A combination of: lectures by the professor, students’ presentations and general debates.

Requirements for the final assessment:

- Active participation in class

- Oral presentation of a self-chosen topic

- A written paper (10 pages), in German or Spanish, with bibliography.

Borges, Jorge Luis: Narraciones. Madrid: Cátedra, 2005. The other texts will be available on OLAT.

I’d like to remind the students that, in case they intend to write their B.A.-papers in this course, they should let me know in the first two weeks of the semester!

B.A.-papers are additional to PS-papers, what means you should write 10 pages for your PS-paper AND 30-40 for your B.A.-paper.