230591 Nature Tales & Trails in British and Australian Literature (S) (SoSe 2026)

Focused on Australian and British fiction, this course provides an overview of the genre and the key techniques and theories for critical analysis and interpretation. The main question and concern with which we will approach the texts is whether and how they represent the oppositions nature vs culture, animal vs human, emotionality and instinct vs rationality, etc. Our discussions will revolve around a couple of theoretical (Adams, Plumwood) and fictional texts (George Orwell´s Animal Farm and Tara June Winch`s novel Swallow the Air). In-class exercises will also feature British and Australian poetry.

NB: We will begin our discussions of George Orwell´s Animal Farm in week 5 and of Tara June Winch`s novel Swallow the Air in week 9. You need to have read the texts in their entirety by the respective weeks and bring a hard copy to class. You may acquire the books through interlibrary loan (contact the library staff for this). Please order a copy of Winch´s novel Swallow the Air as soon as possible because it takes quite a bit of time to arrive.