32111

WiSe 22/23: Changing Narratives about ‘America’

Winfried Fluck

Information for students

Room 340 (with two exceptions)

Comments

American Studies as a field of study has been established to gain a better understanding of “America,” both as an idea and as a nation. It does so by contributing ever new observations and research data. But these single items have to be connected in order to be able to draw larger conclusions. The form in which this is usually done is by inserting a single phenomenon into a larger explanatory pattern for which, in following the historian Hayden White, American studies scholars now use the term narrative. This course will trace some of the main narratives that have been created in order to make sense of American society and culture, starting with the foundational narrative of American studies, that of American exceptionalism. However, the main focus will lie on recent revisions such as the Cold War-narrative, the American Empire-narrative, the frontier-narrative and settler colonialism, the diversity narrative, narratives about the central role of slavery in the formation of the U.S., the 1619 project, indigenous people’s histories, and the feminist debate between Lauren Berlant’s Cruel Optimism and Robyn Wiegman’s essay “Cruel Pessimism.” In each case, the seminar discussion will be based on a few key texts. ----- Credits: To receive participation credit in this course, a 10-15 minute presentation is required, plus regular attendance. To obtain a full credit, a term paper (of about 15 pages) on one of the seminar topics or texts is required, plus regular attendance. Registration: All participants must be registered via Blackboard and Campus Management before the first session. If you cannot register online, please contact the department’s secretary Regina Götz (culture@fki.fu-berlin.de) before the beginning of the term; or if you would like to participate, but cannot attend the first session, please contact me (winfried.fluck@fu-berlin.de). Course Material All of the reading material will be posted as PDF documents on Blackboard. Students are expected to read the main texts for each session. A detailed syllabus will be available on Blackboard at the beginning of the winter semester. close