Fachbereich 7

Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft


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The Puritans in America


DozentIn: Prof. Dr. phil. Peter Schneck , Priv. Doz. Dr. Michaela Keck

Veranstaltungstyp: Seminar

Ort: 11/214

Zeiten: Di. 08:00 - 10:00 (wöchentlich)

Beschreibung: Whether hailed as pioneers of American democracy, religious liberty, and individual intellectual growth, or whether disparaged as stern-faced, narrow-minded, and authoritarian religious zealots, the Puritan society of New England offers equally rich fields in scholarly research and popular culture representations. Indeed, some of our contemporary ideas about the life and culture of New England’s Puritan colonial settlements may well be shaped by popularized contemporary versions and representations of Puritanism in literature or film. This course aims to reconstruct some of the specific historical, sociopolitical, and religious contexts of the Puritans in colonial America, while also considering postcolonial, gender, and environmental concerns. Major foci are texts – sermons, poetry, devotional literature, or histories – by Puritan leaders and members (e.g. John Winthrop, William Bradford, Edward Taylor, or Anne Bradstreet), as well as Mary Rowlandson’s captivity narrative. In a final cluster, we will read selected documents of the late 17th-century Salem witch trials alongside Esther Forbes’s modernist literary adaptation with an eye to the specific concerns that shape her version of the social crisis in the Massachusetts Bay colony.

Course requirements: Regular attendance, active participation in class discussions, preparation of the weekly text materials, and occasional writing assignments in preparation for class. Many of the reading materials are available online (see the syllabus on Stud.IP). Please purchase and read Esther Forbes, A Mirror for Witches, 1928 (no specific edition is required).

For questions, please contact: mikeck@uni-osnabrueck.de.


zur Veranstaltung in Stud.IP