SoSe 18: HS-Studying the Present Moment: Narratives of Exile and Migration
Sabine Schülting
Comments
The seminar will look at contemporary novels, short stories, films, and non-fictional texts that deal with one of the most serious challenges of our times: migration. We will discuss how texts and films narrate the journeys of migrants and how they address border crossings as well as cultural encounters, confrontations, and transformations. At the same time, we will explore the impact of exile, migration, and uprootedness on the narrative and on authorship. The course will also address the relationship between home and host country, questions of identity and difference, and the relation between the individual and the community. In many cases, this will include narratives of suffering and trauma.
Students should combine this course with 17406 (Theorizing the Border).
Texts: Students should purchase and read: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah (2014); Teju Cole, Open City (2011); Mohsin Hamid, Exit West (2017); Sunjeev Sahota, The Year of the Runaways(2015). Shorter texts will be made available on Blackboard.
Assessment will be on the basis of regular attendance, active participation in classroom activities (including e.g. response papers, presentations etc.), and an essay of about 7500 words
close14 Class schedule
Regular appointments