This course will familiarise students with the rich literature in English of the post-World War II period. We will engage in close readings and put to practice the analytical categories introduced in the introductory lecture in Basic Module 2 by analysing and interpreting exemplary texts from different genres. We will begin with an all-women play that has long been neglected in scholarship: Sylvia Rayman’s Women of Twilight (1951) that puts on stage the marginalisation and predicament of unmarried mothers. Continuing with drama analysis, we will turn to the ‘Angry Young Men’ and study John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger (first produced in 1956, published in 1957), a landmark in the history of a socially and politically engaged theatre. Moving on to narrative texts, we will discuss the short novel The Lonely Londoners (1956) by Trinidadian author Samuel Selvon, in which West Indian immigrants of the so-called ‘Windrush Generation’ struggle with a sense of failed promise.
Please purchase:
Sylvia Rayman, Women of Twilight (1951) – any edition will do
John Osborne, Look Back in Anger (first produced in 1956, published in 1957) – recommended edition: Faber Modern Classics
Samuel Selvon, The Lonely Londoners (1956) – recommended edition: Penguin Modern Classics, with an introduction by Susheila Nasta
Further material will be made available.
Frequency | Weekday | Time | Format / Place | Period |
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Module | Course | Requirements | |
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23-ANG-AngBM2 Basismodul 2: Introduction to Literary and Cultural Studies | 2.3 Basisseminar: Genres, Authors, Periods | Study requirement
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Student information |
- | Graded examination | Student information | |
23-ANG-Basis2 Basismodul 2: Introduction to Literary Studies | Basis2.3 Basisseminar: Analysing and Interpreting Literary Texts | Student information | |
- | 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.
Degree programme/academic programme | Validity | Variant | Subdivision | Status | Semester | LP | |
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Studieren ab 50 |
A corresponding course offer for this course already exists in the e-learning system. Teaching staff can store materials relating to teaching courses there: