Summer Term 2010

LECTURE

Representing India: From Word to Celluloid
Beginn: Mi, 12. Mai, 14-18, VL-Ende: Do. 10. Juni.
jeweils 2x pro Woche: Mi,. von 14-18 c. t. und Do. von 10-14 c. t. Geb. C5 3, R. 1.19
Die VL findet als Block-Seminar statt, zusammen mit Prof. Makarand Paranjape, Delhi.

This intermedial lecture series explores the diverse, sometimes conflicting, ways in which India is represented in literary fiction and popular culture in the form of immensely successful films. The core material of the course will consist of three texts, Devdas by Sarat Chandra Chatterji, The Guide by R. K. Narayan, and Q&A (re-christened Slumdog Millionaire) by Vikas Swarup. These texts cover not only distinct periods of Indian literature and society, but also deal with contrasting linguistic, geographical, and ideological locations. In a nutshell, these novels may be viewed as 'translated India', 'Indian-English India', and 'trans-national India', while their film versions also invite analysis from differing perspectives which challenge received notions of both Bollywood, and Hollywood, products.


TEXTS:
Sarat Chandra Chatterji, Devdas [short story] – see VL Folder in the IB
Devdas [film] dir. Bimal Roy, 1955
R. K. Narayan, The Guide [novel]
Guide, [film], dir. Vijay Anand, 1965
Vikas Swarup, Q&A [novel]
Slumdog Millionaire [film], dir. Danny Boyle, 2009

Novels have to have been read and films been viewed in advance of the first session. Please make sure to have the correct versions to hand. Do contact  c.plach(at)mx.uni-saarland.de in case of any difficulty.

Participation
Regular attendance of all block seminars; thorough acquaintance with the texts listed above before the first session; end of term written test. Please check the TAS website under "Your Studies" for guidelines, also for note-taking during a lecture series.
Please contact m.ghosh(at)mx.uni-saarland.de for further details.


HAUPTSEMINARE
HS 'The Inner Courtyard'?: Women's Short Stories From India. (Prof. Dr. Ghosh-Schellhorn)

Block Seminars on Fridays, 10-14 s. t, Geb. C5 3, R. 120,  starting on 16th April. The seminar ends on Fr, 11.5.
This seminar sets out to examine the characteristics of the short story using examples of the genre as written by Indian women. Our main points of focus will be:

- the role gender plays in these stories and the nature of its relationship to social class in India

- the formal differences between short stories written in English and the regional Indian languages

- the parallels and contrasts with regard to the characteristic presentation of women in stories written for an Indian as against an international readership.


TEXTS:
The core corpus of stories can be found in: Lakshmi Holmström, ed. The Inner Courtyard: Stories by Indian Women

Participation
Regular attendance of all the block seminar sessions as well as the mandatory tutorial; thorough acquaintance with the texts listed above; individual research on a relevant topic of your choice for a short  oral presentation, followed by a term paper (15-20 pages in MLA format). Please check the TAS website under "Your Studies" for further details about presentation and essay writing modalities.


Tutorial: Lena Breum
Fr, 8.30-10. Raum wird noch bekannt gegeben


HS: Bombay: A Transcultural Adventure
!! Change of Schedule due to Ash Cloud !!
Beginn Mi, 28. April 14-18, C 5.3. Raum 119 ,  jeweils 3x pro Woche:

Mi. von  14-18 c. t. C 5.3. Raum 119,  Do. von 10-14 c. t., Geb. C5 4, CIP-Pool, R. 110,  und Fr. 10-14 c. t., Geb. C5 4, CIP-Pool, R. 109,  Seminar-Ende: Fr. 14. Mai.
Das HS findet als Block-Seminar statt, zusammen mit Farrukh Dhondy, London/Mumbai.

This seminar explores the soul and body of Bombay, India's leading megapolis and melting pot. India's foremost commercial city, the theatre of the dreams of Bollywood as well as the location of the largest slum in the world, Bombay is more distinct from the rest of India than New York is from the rest of America.  The sessions will cover the history of Bombay, an island city created out of swampland in the 17th and 18th centuries by the British East India Company. On developing into a manufacturing metropolis, Bombay became the crossroads for the people of India, a fact which led to it being held captive by a unique blend of Hindu fundamentalism. However, as the very recent events surrounding the banning of the film My Name is Khan show, the soul of metropolitan Bombay might yet be saved.
Using a variety of literary texts and Bollywood films, alongside paintings, architectural splendours and blunders, the biographies of its sons and daughters, the plans and scams, the hustles, the incidents of terror, the scandals and news stories, we shall be reviewing the past and present of a Bombay that is more an adventure than a city.


TEXTS:
Rudyard Kipling, "The English Flag" (1892) [poem]
Anon. "The Griffin" (1928) [poem]
Nissim Ezekiel, "The Patriot" [poem]
"Bombay Theatre" from V. S. Naipaul's India: A Million Mutinies Now (1990) [non-fiction excerpt]
Namdeo Dhasal, "Stone-masons, my Father, and Me" [poem]
Adil Jussawalla, "Sea Breeze, Bombay" [poem]
Farrukh Dhondy, Bombay Duck (1990) [fiction]
"Personal Geography" from Suketu Mehta's Maximum City (2004) [non-fiction excerpt]
Arun Kolatkar, "Pi-Dog" [poem excerpt]
Shree 420, 1955, dir. Raj Kapoor [film]
Mahesh Padgoankar, "Salaam" [poem]
Salaam Bombay, 1988, dir. Mira Nair [film]
Bombay, 1995, dir. Mani Ratnam [film]
My Name is Khan, 2010, dir. Karan Johar [film]

Written texts have to have been read and films been viewed prior to the sessions. Please make sure to have the correct version to hand, and to check the seminar folder in the IB for the excerpts. Do contact c.plach(at)mx.uni-saarland.de  in case of any difficulty.
N.B. Please urgently contact m.ghosh(at)mx.uni-saarland.de for scheduling oral presentations / group work and any further details.

Participation
Regular attendance of all the block seminar sessions; thorough acquaintance with the texts listed above before each session; individual research on a relevant topic of your choice for short  oral presentations / group work, followed by a term paper (15-20 pages in MLA format). Please check the TAS website under "Your Studies" for further details about the presentation and essay writing modalities.


KOLLOQUIUM
Mi 16-18 c.t.

Studying TAS (Prof. Dr. Ghosh-Schellhorn)
Room tbA

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 academic work-in-progress the application of TAS theories to selected texts ongoing analysis of contemporary critical issues in this field of study.
Please contact m.ghosh(at)mx.uni-saarland.de for further details.


PROSEMINARE
PS South Africa in Film and Fiction (Dr. Zehle)
Wed 10-12

C 5.4 1.09
When South Africa finally held democratic elections fifteen years ago, people across the world celebrated the end of Apartheid. Hailed as the long-awaited conclusion of the twentieth-century process of decolonization, the 'miracle' of a peaceful defeat of the Apartheid regime raised hopes of an African Renaissance lead by the newly-liberated 'rainbow nation' (Desmond Tutu). More than a sobering decade later, South Africa continues to struggle with the legacy of Apartheid in almost all areas of its cultural, economic, and political life. Drawing on a wide range of literary authors and materials, the course explores some of the controversies that have characterized the process of national self-examination during the first fifteen years of democracy.


PS: Colonialism/Postcolonialism: Theory and Practice (Djahazi, M.A.)
Mon 12-14

C 5.3 U 13

The first part of this course is dedicated to the reading and discussion of an introduction to postcolonial theory by Ania Loomba (Colonialism/Postcolonialism). With this hermeneutic background, we will discuss a recent (and entertaining) historical novel on the colonization of Tasmania: English Passengers by Matthew Kneale and, depending on the remaining time and workload, several shorter texts (prose, drama and poetry) from your TAS reading list.


PS/ÜbungTranscultural Area Studies: Globalization, Migration and Diaspora (Djahazi M.A.)
Tue 16-18

C 5.3 U 10

This course deals with the migration of people within the Anglophone world, instigated by colonialism/imperialism but also by other factors. After a historical overview of movements of migration and the reading of some essays on globalization and diasporas, we take a look at literary texts which reflect these issues. A third section of this course is a visit of the Lebach Migration Camp.