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SoSe 21: HS-Studying the Present Moment: Virus: Literature, Media, Culture

Sabine Schülting

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It is not only since the current COVID-19 pandemic that viruses have moved to the centre of cultural attention. In both their organic and digital varieties viruses are infectious agents that replicate themselves inside their hosts, often with harmful effects. Viruses feature not only in medical discourse and debates about internet security, but also in disaster films and apocalyptic fiction as well as in contemporary philosophy. They often function as powerful metaphors and figures of thought through which central questions and concerns of contemporary culture are negotiated, including concepts of the body, digital culture, networks and connectivity, (re)production and dissemination, biopolitics, globalisation, and warfare.

The course will be ‘virological’ in that it studies viruses, and their various representations and negotiations, in contemporary fiction, popular culture, and theory. Our readings will include fictional and non-fictional texts (novels, journalism, poetry), popular films (e.g. I Am Legend, 2007; Contagion, 2011); and theoretical texts by Jacques Derrida, Roberto Esposito, and Jean-Luc Nancy.

Texts: You should buy and read the following two novels: Hari Kunzru, Transmission (2004), and Philip Roth, Nemesis (2010). Both novels are available in inexpensive paperback editions and can easily be ordered through any bookshop in town. Additional shorter texts will be made available via Blackboard.

Assessment: Students are expected to participate regularly, read the assigned texts, take part in the discussions, and contribute a presentation and/or short response papers. The exam is an essay of c. 7500 words. Exchange students (MA level) are of course welcome. You can gain up to 10 ECTS in this course.

The course will be taught via WebEx video meetings. Details on the organization of the course as well as the meeting information will be posted on Blackboard in the first week of April.