Literary and cultural studies scholars are no longer writing in a context where ‘the popular’ is widely assumed to be unworthy of serious intellectual or political attention. More than four decades after Stuart Hall’s influential 1981 essay “Notes on Deconstructing ‘the Popular’”, it almost goes without saying that ‘the popular’ is intertwined with ‘the political’. In this reading-intensive class, we will study theoretical texts by Raymond Williams, Stuart Hall, John Storey and others to explore varied and, at times, conflicting ideas of ‘the popular’. In the second half of the semester, we will apply these ideas to a wide range of case studies, such as Shakespeare’s plays and performances, the rise of contemporary writers to (international) fame, or the interplay of pattern and variation in genre fiction (e.g. crime narratives). Students are welcome to suggest further case studies.
Students should be well-acquainted with the basics of literary studies; they should be able to analyse and interpret Anglophone literary texts by drawing on the genre-specific analytical categories. This knowledge and expertise is usually acquired through the successful completion of Basic Module 2.
Students enrolled in FsB 2022: successful completion of Basic Module 1 (LPT)
The theoretical texts will be made available.
Frequency | Weekday | Time | Format / Place | Period |
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Module | Course | Requirements | |
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23-ANG-Profil5 Profilmodul 5: Anglophone Cultures around the World | Profil5.2 Anglophone Literatures and Cultures | Study requirement
Graded examination |
Student information |
Profil5.3 Linguistics: Varieties of English OR Anglophone Literatures and Cultures | Study requirement
Graded examination |
Student information | |
23-ANG-Profil5_G Profilmodul 5_G: Anglophone Cultures around the World | Profil5.2_G Anglophone Literatures and Cultures | Study requirement
Graded examination |
Student information |
Profil5.3_G Linguistics: Varieties of English OR Anglophone Literatures and Cultures | Study requirement
Graded examination |
Student information |
The binding module descriptions contain further information, including specifications on the "types of assignments" students need to complete. In cases where a module description mentions more than one kind of assignment, the respective member of the teaching staff will decide which task(s) they assign the students.
A corresponding course offer for this course already exists in the e-learning system. Teaching staff can store materials relating to teaching courses there: