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Lehrende
Anglo-American Crime Fiction and Social Criticism
DozentIn: Prof. Dr. phil. Peter Schneck
Veranstaltungstyp: Seminar
Ort: 15/111
Zeiten: Di. 10:00 - 12:00 (wöchentlich)
Beschreibung: Crime fiction is one of the major 'global' literary genres and it has proven remarkably constant and reliable in its formal generic aspects while at the same time highly adaptive and flexible in its thematic concerns and topical interests. Crime fiction can be seen as the perfect medium and commodity of 'clocalization': highly translatable across languages and reading publics but also decidedly local or regional.
In many ways, the literature of crime has thus established itself globally as a dominant perspective or 'lens' on contemporary social problems, structures and developments, as well as the psychological factors - and aberrations - connected to those structures and developments.
The seminar will be concerned with this unique position of the crime novel, especially in its observation and representation of contemporary social and psychological issues, by reading and discussing three contemporary examples from the Anglo-American context:
Paul Mendelsohn *The First Rule of Survival* (2014; South Africa)
Ryan Gattis *All Involved* (2015; USA)
Garry Disher *Bitter Wash Road* (2013, Australia)
All novels are available via Amazon as affordable paperbacks (please do not use Kindle versions as they do not have standard pagination and cannot be used in academic contexts).
Requirements:
All students are expected to read the novels in preparation for the seminar; there will also be close readings and discussions of detail during the sessions which will require a solid knowledge of all novels and their particularities.
A small amount of additional reading material will be assigned for specific sessions; students may prepare these texts with the help of guiding questions in groups and lead class discussions.
Depending on the program requirements ('Modulbeschreibung') you will need to prepare and hand in written work (term paper = *Hausarbeit*) at the end of the seminar. Requirements for paper work will be discussed in the first session, as will the requirements for active participation and preparation.
This seminar is recommended for 4th semester students of English and American Studies; solid basic knowledge about literary genres, as well as critical and narrative approaches to fiction are requirements for succeeding with the oral and written requirements in this class. Regular and active attendance are likewise strongly advised.
