Summer Term 2008

Prof. Martina Ghosh-Schellhorn:
VL: A Transcultural Introduction to Anglophone South Asian Diasporas
Mi 14-16:
Hörsaal 0.03 (Geb. B3 2)

Tutorial: Nadine Lauer
Mitt. 13-14
U2 (Geb. C5.2)

This introductory lecture series will focus on the political and cultural background to the globally far-flung diasporas which have emanated from British colonial enterprise. This will be accompanied by analysis of key literary texts as particularly significant examples of the interaction of cultures with one another in the context of transculturality.
For details of the schedule and the texts being dealt with, please consult the Course Folder in the Dept. Library well in advance of the first session. The mandatory tutorial is designed to augment comprehension of the topics and texts presented in the lecture series.

Participation
Regular attendance of both lecture series and tutorial; active participation in the tutorial; end of term written test.

Tutorial: check the notice-board and TAS home page www.tas.uni-saarland.de/under "Current Courses" for details.


HS: India and the American Dream: Fictional Examples
Do 10-12
Geb. C 5.3, Raum 120
Tutorial: Mirren Augustin
Do, 12-13
Geb. C 5.3, Raum 120

Following the capitalist reformation of a Nehruvian closed economy in India in the 1980s, the influx of Indians belonging to a middle-class, highly qualified background has led to the formation of what we can call "the professional diaspora" as recently found in the U.S.A. This Indian diaspora is unique in being not only very young, it is moreover making a great impact on the host US economy. In the field of politics and culture, diasporic Indians are meanwhile gaining recognition, if only as a visible minority. How have writers engaged with questions of voluntary/involuntary migration, with dislocation, assimilation, affiliation, and the issue of re-rooting?

Texts being focussed on (among others) and editions to be used:
Bharati Mukherjee,Jasmine(London: Virago 1991)
Salman Rushdie, Fury (New York: Modern Library, 2002)
Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake (Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 2006)

HS: Transcultural Film Studies: Visualising the Indian Diaspora
Do 14-16
Geb. C 5.3, Raum 120


Tutorial: Josephine Mansson
Do 12-13, Raum wird noch bekannt gegeben

If India and mainstream Indian film claims the status of cultural 'centre' for its wide-spread overseas 'family' of Non-Resident Indians, then how has the nexus of 'home' and 'abroad' been presented by Bollywood? Relatedly, how have filmmakers located in the Indian diaspora(s) dealt with the topic of India as an 'imaginary homeland' when set alongside the realities of diasporic life in a western industrialised country? We will be looking closely at examples of this contest for centrality in the course of this seminar.

Films being focussed on (among others):
Dilwale Dulhania Ley Jayenge
Pardes
American Desi
Hollywood, Bollywood


Kolloquium: Studying TAS
Mi 16 –18
Geb. C 5.3, Raum 119

All students intending to take any part of their final examinations in TAS are strongly advised to attend this colloquium. It provides a forum for the treatment of issues relevant to

a) preparation for the oral and written examinations

b) academic work in progress (e.g. the writing of theses/Staatsarbeiten)

c) application of TAS theories to selected texts

d) ongoing analysis of contemporary critical issues in this field of study.

This semester the focus will be on theories of migration and the diaspora. Please sign up for the colloquium by sending an e-mail tom.ghosh(at)mx.uni-saarland.de

Dr. Soenke Zehle
Pan-Africanism in Perspective
Di 10:15-11:45, Raum 1.01 (CIP-Pool)

In 1958, newly independent Ghana hosted the First All-African People's Conference, a major event in the history of Pan-Africanism. In the context of the fiftieth anniversary of this event, we will explore Pan-Africanism from a variety of (literary and non-literary) perspectives, with a particular focus on Ghanaian authors. More on the first day of class or at tmsp.org/panafricanism.

Requirements:

  • benotet: Attendance (Course Sessions, Films, Workshops), Final Exam, Term Paper
  • unbenotet: Attendance (Course Sessions, Films, Workshops), Final Exam

Readings: Please purchase the following titles. They should be available at the campus bookstore, or you can order them on your own.

  • Armah, The Beautyful Ones are not yet Born

  • Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth

  • Aidoo, Changes

Additional readings will be made available via 'Elektronischer Semesterapparat'.