Summer Term 2013

Courses Prof. Ghosh-Schellhorn SS 2013

VL: "Masques: Transcultural Knowledge of Africa"

Mi, 14 - 16 c. t., HS 0.03, Geb. B3 2

This lecture series sets out to explore cultural spaces that have often, and controversially, been regarded as Europe's 'dark Other'. Where does this persistent viewpoint stem from? What does it draw its sustenance from? The world's second-largest continent encompassing people whose mother-tongues comprise more than 1/4th of all the world's languages, Africa is still chiefly equated with "poverty, flies, famine, war, disease, and the limitless acres of savannah inhabited only by majestic game" (Henry Louis Gates Jr.).

In reviewing the extent to which African traditions, and in particular "the older world of magic" (V. S. Naipaul), have been transformed over the centuries of transcultural interaction with mainly Arabic and European slave traders and colonizers, we will be examining a variety of first-person accounts of encounters with African cultures in their historical contexts.

In advancing the African focus of this seminar, a selection of lectures by experts will form part of the course, while a short, on-site survey of two museums in Belgium showcasing "Africa" will be offered in late June to students keen to pursue more research in the field of representative practices.

MAIN TEXTS to be read for the lecture:

Naipaul, V. S. The Masques of Africa. London: Picador, 2010.

Saro-Wiwa, Noo. Looking for Transwonderland. London: Granta, 2012

Further course material will either be placed in the Semesterapparat (IB) or, if otherwise difficult to locate, will be made available in CLIX.

Participation

All lecture series material to be read as follows: before the session for which the text is scheduled, though reading the full texts before the first lecture is strongly recommended; regular attendance of the full lecture series; optional on-site survey of 2 museums; end of term written test. Please check the TAS website under "Your Studies" for guidelines, especially on note-taking during a lecture series.

HS: "Into the 'Heart of Darkness': Novels, Films, Workshops and Museums"

Do, 14 - 16 c. t., Raum 1.20, Geb. C5 3

Tutorial: Claudia Kilian. Do. 13-14, (exact time of tutorial to be decided at the beginning of the seminar)

How is the continent presented in ethnographic museums, in novels about Africa, and in the film adaptations made of these? Which aspects are chosen for display/treatment, and what strategies can be discerned in these choices?

In addressing these questions we will be a) reading a selection of novels dealing with Africa as a place of enslavement; b) looking closely at treatment of the topic in film adaptations; c) continuing the TAS focus of museology by on-site survey of museums dedicated to 'exhibiting' Africa where meetings with the curators are being scheduled for the end of June; and, d) interacting with visiting experts on representations of Africa as also topics like the process of turning of a novel into a film during the workshop sessions scheduled for the last part of the semester.

Please make sure to email me on registration at m.ghosh(at)mx.uni-saarland.de to confirm your participation in the seminar so that the various aspects mentioned above can best be coordinated.

TEXTS:

Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. London, 1899. Print.

Chatwin, Bruce. The Viceroy of Ouidah. 1980. Print.

Coppola, Francis Ford. Apocalypse Now. 1979. Film.

Herzog, Werner. Cobra Verde. 1988. Film.

Participation

Regular attendance and active participation in all sessions and activities; thorough acquaintance with all the material listed above before the first session; individual research on a relevant topic of your choice for short oral presentations / group work, followed by a term paper (7500 words, in MLA format) on a larger research topic. Please check the TAS website under "Your Studies" for further details about oral presentation and essay writing modalities.

HS "From Pride and Prejudice to Bride and Prejudice: Transcultural Adaptation of a Classic"

Do. 16 - 18 c. t., Raum 120 , Geb. C5 3

Tutorial: Julia Schroeder Do. 13-14, (exact time of tutorial to be decided at the beginning of the seminar)

When Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice was published exactly 2 centuries ago, India was a colony soon to be the focus of reforming attention. The decision to create an elite of Anglicized Indians eventually brought Austen's novels to the notice of a readership that was unprecedented in history. Yet it took another 169 years, and the advent of film, for one of these 'new readers' to transform the novel into a very successful crossover film by combining British and Bollywood elements. What was gained in the process, what lost - and why?

We will explore the topics of intertextuality and intermediality by engaging with the texts listed below. In doing so we will be assisted by media experts during workshops while the cultural contexts of both Austen's and Gurinder Chadha's creative production will be examined on-site during a brief visit mid-July. Both of these activities form an integral part of this seminar. Please make sure to email me on registration at m.ghosh@mx.uni-saarland.de to confirm your participation in the seminar so that the various aspects mentioned above can best be coordinated.

TO BE READ before the seminar begins:

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. London, 1813.

TO BE WATCHED before the second session:

Pride and Prejudice. Simon Langton, BBC, 1995.

Bride and Prejudice. Gurinder Chadha, BFI & Miramax, 2004.

Participation

Regular attendance and active participation in all sessions and activities; thorough acquaintance with all the TEXTS listed above; individual research on a relevant topic of your choice for short oral presentations / group work, followed by a term paper (7500 words, in MLA format) on a larger research topic. Please check the TAS website under "Your Studies" for further details about oral presentation and essay writing modalities.

Proseminar: “Transatlantic British Slavery”

Blockseminar: N.N.

Vorbesprechung:
29.04.2013
10:15-11:45

03.06.2013
10.06.2013
17.06.2013
24.06.2013
01.07.2013
08.07.2013
15.07.2013

Jeweils 10:00-13:30

Raum: C 5.3 E20

During the many centuries of the African Slave Trade more than 13 thousands Africans were taken from their homes to be transported across the Atlantic to work on sugar and cotton plantations and in the mines as slaves. In this seminar we will be looking at Britain’s participation in the Transatlantic Slave Trade, as well as at some of the representations of this venture such as The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano and The History of Mary Prince.

KOLL Studying TAS

Mi, 16 - 19 c. t., Raum 1.19, Geb. C5 3

All TAS students in the semi-final stages of their studies are encouraged to attend. Those intending to take any part of their final examinations in TAS are strongly advised to participate in this colloquium a semester prior to their exams. This also applies to students starting out / meanwhile engaging with their written academic work, i.e. those doing an M.A. or a B.A. thesis, or any course of L.A. Study, i.e. the Staatsexamensarbeit and/or the final oral exam.

The colloquium aims to firstly, improve study skills while providing guidance in the choice of exam topics, a supportive forum for presenting theses-in-progress, practise for oral exams, all within the frame of engaging with the application of TAS theory parameters to selected texts.

Christiane Charon, M.A. (Overseas Family School, Singapore)

TAS Culture Studies: Indigenous presence, living and learning in Australia and Aotearoa

Christiane Charon, M.A. (Overseas Family School, Singapore)

Poster

While Australia's Indigenous population continues to face problems raising humanitarian concerns worldwide, New Zealand is often praised as a model country of bi-culturalism and bi-lingualism.

This course will provide an introduction to the two former settler colonies. Students will gain an understanding of historical and contemporary issues in both countries. We will compare how colonisation has shaped the lifestyles of Indigenous peoples in both countries with a particular focus on education and presence in society.

Materials include exclusive interview footage with Indigenous Australian elders, an overview of a bi-cultural education policy and extracts of Maori comedy.

Assessment:

Oral presentations of 30 minutes. Students should attend all scheduled sessions to gain credit for this course.

Fr, 

14. Juni, 21. Juni, 28. Juni, 5. Juli, 12. Juli, 19. Juli, 26. Juli

Jeweils 8.30-12

Geb. C5 2, Raum U1