Kommentiertes Vorlesungsverzeichnis Anglistik Heidelberg SS 2008

4.9 Proseminar II Kulturwissenschaft/Landeskunde
elusive dream. Based on a book that is itself based on extensive research and interviews with
participants, will study this unique movement from a variety of perspectives and will also compare
it with other protest movements of the sixties, notably the Black Panther Party (BPP).
Text: Dan Georgakas & Marvin Surkin, Detroit: I Do Mind Dying, South End Press, Cambridge
MA 1998, € 14,00.
Course Requirements: Regular attendance and active participation (1 CP); course
preparation/homework assignments (2 CP); paper and presentation (1 CP); term paper (2 CP).
‘England’s Second City’: Changing Images of Manchester in Literature, Music
and Film
Dr. Hirsch Mittwoch 14:15 – 15:45 110 2st.
While numerous studies have been devoted to representations of Britain’s metropolis, depictions of
Manchester have largely remained unconsidered. This seems remarkable for at least two reasons:
Firstly, because localities and regional identities are key issues in contemporary politico-cultural
debates; and secondly, because a majority of British people have come to see Manchester as
England’s second city, thus putting it in front of its traditional and actually much larger rival
Birmingham.
Taking the latter shift in public perception as a starting point, this seminar seeks to chronicle the
changing images of Manchester throughout the last two centuries. Covering a period that stretches
from the city’s grim industrial past up to quite recent transformations in the wake of the 1990s
‘Madchester’ phenomenon, we shall make use of rather diverse media. In effect our material basis
not only combines literary, musical and filmic sources, but also transgresses traditional boundaries
between ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture. Hence equal attention will be paid to canonical texts (such as
Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Peterloo Massacre inspired poems “England in 1819” and “The Masque of
Anarchy” or extracts from Manchester related Victorian novels) and decidedly popular artefacts
(such as Michael Winterbottom’s film 24 Hour Party People or selected episodes from the TV
series Cracker and Life on Mars).
Registration: Please register personally or via email Bernd.Hirsch@as-uni-heidelberg.de.
Texts: All texts will be made available in a reader.
Course Requirements: Regular and active participation in class (1 CP); individual preparation (2
CP); oral presentation (1 CP); written term paper (2 CP).
The American Musical on the American Frontier
Carolyn Burmedi Freitag 09:15 – 12:45 110 2st.
In this course we will look at how a uniquely American experience has been portrayed in a uniquely
American art form. To do the musicals justice, we will meet for four hours every other week to
watch the filmed versions in their entirety and discuss their relationship to theoretical texts.
Course Requirements: Regular attendance and active participation (1 CP); an oral report (1 CP);
regular reading assignments (2 CP); a 12-15 page term paper (2 CP).
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