Termine im WS 2012/13 - Englisches Seminar - Ruhr-Universität ...

ENGLISCHE LITERATUR VON 1700 BIS ZUR GEGENWART
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Vorlesung
050 638 Niederhoff
Narrative Theory, 2/2,5 CP
2 st. do 8-10 HGB 20
This lecture will provide a systematic introduction to narrative, the emphasis being on
fictional narrative in prose, i.e. on novels and short stories. It will discuss such topics as
plot, setting, free indirect thought (Erlebte Rede), flashback, point of view, unreliable
narrator, etc. While it is my aim to give a rigorous and systematic description of the
various components of narrative, I will attempt not to indulge in terminological nitpicking.
Instead, I will attempt to show that the terms offered by narrative theory can be used in
interpreting a text; in other words, I will point out the meanings or effects created by
particular narrative choices. The lecture will be based on David Lodge’s comic novel,
The British Museum is falling Down, and a selection of shorter texts. Students who wish
to prepare for the lecture may read Franz Stanzel, Typische Formen des Romans, 10th
ed. (Göttingen: Vandenhoek und Ruprecht, 1981) or chs. 1 and 6 in Wayne Booth, The
Rhetoric of Fiction, 2nd ed. (Chicago: Chicago UP, 1983); for more advanced students, I
recommend Gérard Genette, Die Erzählung, 2nd ed. (Stuttgart: UTB, 1998).
Requirements for credit points: written exam.
Required text: David Lodge, The British Museum is Falling Down (Penguin pb.); all
other texts will be provided by way of Blackboard.
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