Summer Term 2014

Veranstaltungen im Sommersemester 2014

VL/Ü "Foundation of Cultural Studies"

Professor Dr. Martina Ghosh-Schellhorn

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

What is culture and why do we need to take notice of it? The foremost proponents of Cultural Studies have each, in their time and own way, supplied us with a number of reasons for engaging seriously with all aspects of cultural phenomena as well as culture as performance. We will be looking closely at the major trends in cultural theory in order to find out how these ideas can be applied to analyses of cultural texts. Our thematic focus will be on the representational politics of culture, on the way in which images of self and other are conveyed to in-and out-groups by having recourse to the wide palette of cultural productions – from literary works to popular audiovisual forms like TV series, commercial and art house films, to advertising and video games.

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 in preparation for each session as scheduled; regular participation in the full lecture series; end of term written test.
Please check the TAS website under "Your Studies" for guidelines, especially on note-taking during a lecture series.

VL "Transcultural Reminiscences: India under British Rule"

Professor Dr. Martina Ghosh-Schellhorn

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

 “I met a chap one day in Hell / and asked him how he liked it: “Well,”

He answered candidly, “you see, / there’s nothing strange in this to me.

I lived among them all – the heat / the stink, the racket, the deceit,

Corruption, avarice and fear; / and nearly all my friends are here…”

These lines, penned in the 1940s, mark the end of a unique period in British history. Taking as our point of departure the establishment and maintenance of British rule in India, we will be looking at a way of life, with its changing fashions, that was to last at least two centuries. What kind of a “hell” did India turn out to be for those sent out to administer it? What attempts were made to turn “strange” life in India into something more familiar, more secure, more like “home”? In addressing this question we will be looking at the personal statements made and visual images drawn by / captured on lens by a spectrum of diasporic Britons with regard to, among other topics, official duties, social life, domestic arrangements, entertainments like charades and costume balls, and last but not least, the so-called ‘natives’ with whom they had dealings either as servants or subordinates. 

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 in preparation for each session as scheduled; regular participation in the full lecture series; end of term written test.
Please check the TAS website under "Your Studies" for guidelines, especially on note-taking during a lecture series.

HS Indo-British Relations Through A Transcultural Lens

Professor Dr. Martina Ghosh-Schellhorn

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

Building on the material being analysed in the VL on “India under British Rule” (participation in this VL is recommended), this seminar will focus on the transcultural interweaving of Indian and British lives in the context of personal relations, of collective resistance during colonization and contemporary race relations. Using well-received films as our texts, we will be examining the kind of reality presented in each, and at the choices with regard to representation that have obviously been made in these films. Some of the questions we will set out to answer are: who are the hero/ines, who the villains, does it matter, and if so, why does it?

Film Texts:

Heat and Dust (1983)

Lagaan (2001)

Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011)

Participation

Regular attendance and active participation in all sessions; 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.

Kolloquium Studying TAS

Professor Dr. Martina Ghosh-Schellhorn

Mi 16-18:30

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 the final run through. Those students starting out / meanwhile engaging with their written academic work, i.e. those doing an M.A. or a B.A. thesis, are also expected to attend and therewith to present their work to peer-review.

The colloquium's focus is on developing study skills while providing on-going guidance during exam preparation. Further, it provides a supportive forum for presenting theses-in-progress and mock exams, all within the frame of engaging with the application of TAS theory parameters to selected texts.

Proseminar Literatur

"Playing the Race Card: The White Messiah and the Noble Savage"

Swantje Kaiser

Mo 10:15-11:45, Raum 4.08, geb. C 5.3

The White Messiah fable is a narrative genre that has been played out countless times: Whether in books like Pocahontas and the Jungle Books, or in films such as Dances With Wolves, The Last Samurai and Avatar. All of these texts portray the white man as saviour to the oppressed people of colour.

In this Proseminar we will investigate two key texts and their film adaptations by using current literary and cultural theory.

Texts

Captain John Smith and Pocahontas. Dir. Lew Landers. Perf. Anthony Dexter, Jody

            Lawrance and Alan Hale Jr. MGM, 1953. DVD.

Davis, John: Captain Smith and Princess Pocahontas: An Indian Tale. Theoklesia,

            2012. Print.

The Jungle Book. Dir. Zoltan Korda. Perf. Sabu, Joseph Calleai, John Qualen, Frank

            Puglia and Rosemary DeCamp. Alpha Video, 1942. DVD.

Kipling, Rudyard: The Jungle Books. London: Penguin, 1994. Print.

Participation

Regular attendance, active participation, reading and writing assignments. Requirements include a short oral presentation and a term paper.

If you have any questions, please contact me at swantje.kaiser@uni-saarland.de

Übung Cultural Studies II

Introduction to TAS: Aotearoa (New Zealand)

Claudia Kilian

Di 10:15-11:45, Raum U2, geb. C 5.3

New Zealand is often cited as a model country of bi-culturalism and

bi-lingualism, even though this image is challenged by the way of life

experienced in many urban Maori communities, where the Indigenous

population continues to face problems as statistics of alcohol and

drug abuse, juvenile delinquency and domestic violence show.

This course will provide an introduction to the former settler colony

and its historical and contemporary issues. Through the lens of

literature, we will explore how its people(s) continue to struggle

with the complex legacy of empire. Furthermore, we will investigate in

how far the shared experiences of colonialism and marginality can

construct a bridge between the writings of Maori and Pakhea authors

from New Zealand.

Texts:

Duff, Alan. Once Were Warriors. 1990. Print.

Ihimaera, Witi. The Whale Rider. 1987. Print.

More course materials will either be placed in the Semesterapparat

(IB) or, if otherwise inaccessible, be made available in CLIX.