Lehrende/r: Mirjam Haas
Veranstaltungsart: Seminar
Anzeige im Stundenplan: 05.874.210
Semesterwochenstunden: 2
Unterrichtssprache: Englisch
Min. | Max. Teilnehmerzahl: - | 45
Inhalt: “I am Ana. I was the wife of Jesus of Nazareth. I am a voice.” (Monk Kidd, The Book of Longings 407) In this somewhat experimental class, we are going to explore voice(s) in and voice(s) of literary texts. Thus, we will think about the question of voice both in a metaphorical sense – Sue Monk Kidd’s 2020 novel gives the (fictional) “wife of Jesus” a “voice” and thus agency and existence: “I am a voice” – but also in a literal one: it is Ana who tells the story we are reading in her own voice, a voice shaped by the style and design of the text. And if we listen to the 2020 audio book version of the novel read by Mozhan Marnó, yet another quite material “voice” comes in, the sound of the voice of an actual speaker. Between the voices in the text, the voice of the text and the voices reading a text, we will try to figure out what role voice plays for and in literary texts. How can voice(s) be “fixed” on the silent pages of literature? Do they really “come alive” when read aloud? How is voice related to (character) identity, style and narrative point of view? Students are expected to find their own literary text to work on for the final term paper – so feel encouraged to start thinking about texts that do interesting things with voice(s)/“have” an interesting voice early on. If you are taking this course as an American Studies major with a minor in English Literature and Culture, please be aware that your text choice is limited to texts from 1500-1800.
Empfohlene Literatur: Please buy and read (it’s over 400 pages – so plan in some time!) the following text before the beginning of term: Monk Kidd, Sue. The Book of Longings. Tinder Press, 2020. (ISBN: 1472232518) We will read most other texts in excerpts that I will provide for you via moodle – nevertheless, please be aware that this is a reading-intensive course, there will be theoretical texts to read, weekly assignments to do, and all students will work on an essay plan over the course of the semester that will form the basis for their term paper.
Zusätzliche Informationen: I recommend revising your “Spoken English” (Phonetics and Phonology) and “Introduction to Linguistics” course work before the class starts as an effective way to ease your way into the language focus of this class! Here are two podcasts introducing you to all things linguistic: Word of Mouth (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qtnz/episodes/downloads) and Lingthusiasm (https://lingthusiasm.com/).
