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WiSe 20/21: HS-Studying the Present Moment: Contemporary Epic

Wolfram Keller

Kommentar

Classical epics are frequently associated with the construction of heteronormative genealogies, national myths of origin, and the legitimation of colonial rule. Beginning in the 1990s, there has been a marked increase in rewritings of epic texts—often from postcolonial vantage points—which use epic in order to subvert hegemonial discourses, Derek Walcott’s Omeros being a prominent case in point. Following a few introductory sessions on generic/theoretical questions, we will read several (near-)contemporary adaptations of epic texts with a view to their reception and transformation of classical epic/mythology within their respective cultural and theoretical contexts: Alootook Ipellie’s Arctic Dreams and Nightmares (1993), Bernardine Evaristo’s The Emperor’s Babe (1997), Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad (2005), Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls (2018), and Mark Haddon’s The Porpoise (2019). Depending on the students’ interest, this list is subject to change. In addition to the primary texts, students can expect to read one theoretical or critical article per week. This class is taught in weekly online sessions. Schließen