Politically, the 1930s were shaped by the Great Depression, the Roosevelt administration’s attempts to counter it by way of the ‘New Deal’ and measures that significantly impacted culture – theater, film, literature, photography, painting etc. – as well. Much of the literature during this decade was strongly politicized and looked at the experience of ‘common people’ at a time of crisis, but also as a continuation of existing social and racial inequalities; documentary modes were prominent but not the only means for doing so. This meant that aesthetically, many writers sought to negotiate modernist and realist notions of addressing the effects of modernity and ongoing processes of modernization.
In this class, we will look at how select authors used their writing as a form of social and political critique, as a way to highlight inequalities and to explore questions of ethics, community, and solidarity. We will look at three texts from the late 1930s in detail: John Steinbeck’s novel Grapes of Wrath (1939) and its filmic adaptation, sections from Muriel Rukeyser’s book-length poetry cycle Book of the Dead (1938), and Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Moses, Man of the Mountain (1939). In addition to our discussion of these important texts, students will in smaller groups explore how they – with regard to the form and/or their content – may also have implications for social, political, and ethical critique the present.
This class will be taught in a hybrid format, meaning that we will seek to integrate on-site meetings in smaller groups and digital formats, both synchronous and asynchronous. The practice of such a mixed format will very much depend on pandemic-related regulations and students’ individual comfort level with on-site formats.
Students are asked to please get a copy of Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath and Hurston’s Moses, Man of the Mountain.
Anmelderegeln
Diese Veranstaltung gehört zum Anmeldeset "Beschränkte Teilnehmendenanzahl: HS Social Critique in 1930s American Literature".
Folgende Regeln gelten für die Anmeldung:
Die Anmeldung ist möglich von 06.09.2021, 08:00 bis 11.10.2021, 18:00.
Es wird eine festgelegte Anzahl von Plätzen in den Veranstaltungen verteilt.
Die Plätze in den betreffenden Veranstaltungen wurden am 13.10.2021 um 18:00 verteilt. Weitere Plätze werden evtl. über Wartelisten zur Verfügung gestellt.
