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Law and Violence in Contemporary U.S. American Literature
DozentIn: Irina Brittner, M.A.
Veranstaltungstyp: Seminar
Ort: 41/E08
Zeiten: Fr. 10:00 - 12:00 (wöchentlich)
Beschreibung: Violence has always been a central element in literary texts. The preoccupation of North American literature with violence can be traced from the early captivity narratives to modernist classics like Hemingway or Steinbeck and contemporary genre literature such as crime or horror fiction. From the mid 1980’s onward, however, a number of novels attracted particular public attention by graphically depicting unprecedented brutalities, murders and other gruesome violent acts. This course will aim at making sense of this phenomenon by understanding violence in these novels as a vehicle to address the intricacies of fundamental legal concepts such as legality, legitimacy, normativity and the foundational ground of law itself. This plays out in the novels, for instance, by interrogating the legitimacy of various forms of violence or by negotiating the links between violence, the law and institutional structures. With the help of various theoretical texts, this course will thus analyze and discuss these novels and the violence they feature as a reflection on and criticism of (the workings of) the law.
Please purchase:
McCarthy, Cormac. Blood Meridian. (1985)
Palahniuk, Chuck. Fight Club. (1996)
McCarthy, Cormac. No Country for Old Men (2005)
Students are strongly encouraged to obtain the novels in advance and make themselves familiar with them!
An academic paper, regular attendance and active participation in class are essential for passing this course. It is further expected that you are motivated and prepared to discuss the literary and theoretical texts in class. Further announcements will be posted on Stud.IP.
