Institute for English Language and Literature

• Interfacing Linguistics and Literature

  0253bA1.1
  • 17390 Basic Course
    GK-How to Read (Sabine Schülting)
    Schedule: Do 14:00-16:00 (Class starts on: 2025-10-16)
    Location: J 32/102 (Habelschwerdter Allee 45)
    

    Comments

    This course, aimed at students in the first year of the MA programme, will offer a solid refresher on methods of literary and cultural analysis. We will read and analyse various literary and non-literary texts as well as other media, reflect on our reading strategies, develop research questions, and evaluate the usefulness of different approaches to literary and cultural analysis.
    
    In addition to a selection of short stories, poems, essays etc., mainly from the 20th and 21st centuries, we will read Ali Smith’s How to Be Both (2014), and Brian Friel’s Translations (1980). Students should purchase copies of these two texts, both of which are available as inexpensive paperback editions. Shorter texts will be made available through Blackboard.
    
    Assessment: Students are expected to attend regularly and participate in all seminar activities. This will include e.g. group work, short in-class presentations, and response papers.
    
    Students should combine this course with the tutorial in the module (17 391).

  • 17391 Practice seminar
    Ü-How to Read (Sabine Schülting)
    Schedule: Di 16:00-18:00 (Class starts on: 2025-10-14)
    Location: JK 28/112 (Habelschwerdter Allee 45)
    

    Comments

    This course is aimed at students in their first year of the MA programme and will lay the theoretical and methodological basis for the discussions in the corresponding seminar (17 390). We will discuss theoretical texts and methodological approaches in Literary and Cultural Studies and reflect on how we can transfer the insights from our readings to the analysis of various examples from fiction, poetry, drama, film, etc. The course will also include an introduction to/a refresher on the principles of good academic practice. In addition, students will rehearse basic research techniques, create literature overviews and annotated bibliographies, and write abstracts.
    
    Assessment: Students are expected to attend regularly and participate in all seminar activities. This will include e.g. short written assignments and oral presentations. Students should combine this course with the seminar in the module (17 390).

• Literary and Cultural Theories

  0253bA1.2
  • 17385 Basic Course
    GK-Literary and Cultural Theories: Romanticism and Decreation (Jennifer Wawrzinek)
    Schedule: Mo 12:00-14:00 (Class starts on: 2025-10-13)
    Location: K 31/102 Übungsraum (Habelschwerdter Allee 45)
    

    Comments

    The history of Romanticism scholarship has generally been preoccupied with what can only be described as the cult of the subject. Yet several Romantic writers around the turn of the nineteenth century can be seen to demonstrate an acute awareness of the problems associated with the assertion of the autonomous self, even if it is in the realm of politics and for the purpose of vindicating rights. This course aims to move beyond the concern with self and identity that has preoccupied traditional, and even more progressive, accounts of the field, in order to consider the ways in which some writers during the Romantic period can be seen to disrupt, destabilise, or altogether entirely erase the subject that has otherwise been seen as the distinctive innovation of Romanticism. Over the course of the semester, students will examine the modern theories of decreation by Simone Weil alongside the work of both canonical and non-canonical Romantic writers of the long eighteenth century in order to consider the extent to which the decreated subject allows Romantic writers a means of thinking new forms of politics and ethics in the socio-political climate of post-Revolutionary Europe.
    
    Students are expected to acquire the following texts:
    

    • Keats, John. Selected Letters. Penguin Classics.
    • Weil, Simone. War and the Illiad. Routledge.
    • Wordsworth, Dorothy. The Grasmere and Alfoxden Journals. Oxford World’s Classics.
    • Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Penguin Classics.
    • Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Short Residence in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Penguin Classics.

    A course reader will be available on Blackboard prior to the start of semester.

  • 17386 Practice seminar
    Ü-Literary and Cultural Theories: Affect Theory (Jennifer Wawrzinek)
    Schedule: Di 10:00-12:00 (Class starts on: 2025-10-14)
    Location: JK 31/239 (Habelschwerdter Allee 45)
    

    Comments

    Since the last decade of the twentieth century, scholars have begun to examine the various ways in which political, economic and cultural transformations have been changing the realm of the social in terms of affect, that is, in terms of visceral forces that exist beneath, alongside, or generally other than conscious knowing but that can nevertheless drive us towards movement, thought, and constantly changing forms of relation. Over the course of the semester students will examine a range of theories from scholars working in the field of affect studies in order to think about the ways in which shifting from the privileging of the organic body to an exploration of nonorganic life; from the presumption of equilibrium-seeking closed systems to an engagement of open systems; and from criticism based on the subject (as the central organising point of consciousness and knowing) to one that engages with fields of information as process, compel us to reconsider our understanding of being and knowledge as something distinctly human.
    
    Students are expected to acquire the following texts:
    

    • Fanny Burney, Evelina
    • Anne Carson, Autobiography of Red

    Course readings will be made available on Blackboard prior to the beginning of semester.

• Constructing Difference: Literary and Cultural Histories

  0253bA1.3
  • 17400 Advanced seminar
    HS-Constructing Difference: Evil in Shakespeare (Stephan Laqué)
    Schedule: Mi 16:00-18:00 (Class starts on: 2025-10-15)
    Location: J 27/14 (Habelschwerdter Allee 45)
    

    Comments

    The question of evil – its origin, its nature, its very existence – has challenged and baffled academic disciplines from philosophy to theology and from psychology to sociology. This seminar will consider Shakespeare’s plays as seminal contributions to these debates, texts which probe and explore the surfaces and depths of morality and the dynamics which produce them. Please purchase either individual editions of Othello, Hamlet, Richard III and Pericles (preferably from the Arden Shakespeare Series) or the complete The Norton Shakespeare (ed. Stephen Greenblatt). Please start reading Othello.

  • 17401 Practice seminar
    Ü-Constructing Difference: Evil - Theory and Literature (Stephan Laqué)
    Schedule: Do 12:00-14:00 (Class starts on: 2025-10-16)
    Location: J 27/14 (Habelschwerdter Allee 45)
    

    Comments

    In this seminar we will trace and engage with a series of texts reflecting the broad spectrum of theories which have been produced in attempts to fathom agents (forces, human beings, situations) which are perceived as extremely ‘bad’ (depraved, corrupt, destructive), and we will consider the relevance of these theories to the ways in which literature handles the question of evil. Texts will be made available on Blackboard.

• Literature and Media

  0253bA1.4
  • 17405 Advanced seminar
    HS-Literature and Media: Possessed by the Devil (Cordula Lemke)
    Schedule: Do 12:00-14:00 (Class starts on: 2025-10-16)
    Location: J 32/102 (Habelschwerdter Allee 45)
    

    Comments

    Scottish folktales have always been haunted by ghosts, murderers and the odd witch. Tales of witchcraft and magic have been part of the Scottish cultural memory since James VI of Scotland had become James I of England and Scotland. His reign started a veritable witch craze when he accused Scottish women of riding the waves in sieves and conjuring up a storm that almost led to his and his new Danish wife’s death by drowning on their passage home to Scotland. From then on around 3000 women and men died being accused of using magic and consorting with the devil. During the age of the European Scotland craze the topic of witchcraft returned as an uncomfortable marker of Scottishness and it is still part of the legacy of Scotland today. In this seminar we will look at texts from the post-Jacobite era that invented Scottishness, put them in dialogue with today’s engagement with witchcraft and we will explore how the texts are shaped by different media.
    
    This class will deal with violence, and the texts contain graphic and disturbing scenes of mainly sexualized violence. I will do my best to make our seminar a space where we can engage empathetically and thoughtfully with such content.
    
    Please purchase the following texts (no e-texts!):
    

    • James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (Oxford World Classics)
    • Kate Foster, The King’s Witches
    • Philip Paris, The Last Witch of Scotland
    • Jenni Fagan, Hex

  • 17406 Practice seminar
    Ü-Literature and Media: Media Theory (Cordula Lemke)
    Schedule: Fr 14:00-16:00 (Class starts on: 2025-10-17)
    Location: KL 32/202 Übungsraum (Habelschwerdter Allee 45)
    

    Comments

    The term 'media' opens up a wide-ranging discussion. What do we understand by 'media'? Which forms of cultural engagement do we include? How do we interpret different media? Can we plausibly apply our methods from Literary Studies to other media? How do we compare motifs across the different media? The tutorial will be looking at various theoretical texts dealing with general questions or engagements with specific media and apply them to Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. We will read texts by thinkers as diverse as Marshall McLuhan, Marie-Laure Ryan, Hans-Ulrich Gumbrecht, Bela Balazs and Frederic Jameson.

• Academic Writing

  0253bA2.1
  • 17420 Language Course
    Academic Writing: Research, Reading, Argumentation and Style (Ruth Wishart)
    Schedule: Di 12:00-14:00 (Class starts on: 2025-10-14)
    Location: KL 29/208 Übungsraum (Habelschwerdter Allee 45)
    

    Comments

    Aims and Objectives
    The year-long Academic Writing module focusses on the skills required for writing an academic essay or paper: approaches to developing, organizing, researching and presenting ideas.
    
    Part 1 (winter semester) covers the general basics of essay writing skills and structure, developing a critical approach and academic style, and will also analyse various techniques to improve essay writing, including appropriate language skills. There will be much emphasis on putting theory into practice and students will be expected to participate in writing exercises every week.
    
    Learning Outcomes
    During the module, students will learn:
    - to express themselves with clarity and precision in formal, academic English
    - to develop critical insight into literary analysis
    - to broaden their range of research skills
    - to take a critical approach to their own writing
    
    Module Requirements
    Over the course of the semester, students will be required to write a short paper (approximately 2500-3000 words) on the short story collection Dubliners by James Joyce. The basic requirements for the course are: the completion of the term paper and regular attendance in the course, including active participation in all writing assignments.
    
    Please note that the entire module runs over two semesters: the second part is offered in the summer semester. Students must complete both parts to gain credits for the module.
    
    The entire module (winter and summer semesters) is worth 15 credit points.
    
    Language Requirements
    The course will be held in English. Students must have an active command of sophisticated, near native-speaker language skills (C1 / C2).
    
    Kompetente Sprachverwendung (hohes Sprachniveau bis fast muttersprachliche Sprachkompetenz) (C1 / C2).

  • 17421 Language Course
    Academic Writing: Research, Reading, Argumentation and Style (Ruth Wishart)
    Schedule: Fr 10:00-12:00 (Class starts on: 2025-10-17)
    Location: KL 29/207 Übungsraum (Habelschwerdter Allee 45)
    

    Comments

    Aims and Objectives
    The year-long Academic Writing module focusses on the skills required for writing an academic essay or paper: approaches to developing, organizing, researching and presenting ideas.
    
    Part 1 (winter semester) covers the general basics of essay writing skills and structure, developing a critical approach and academic style, and will also analyse various techniques to improve essay writing, including appropriate language skills. There will be much emphasis on putting theory into practice and students will be expected to participate in writing exercises every week.
    
    Learning Outcomes
    During the module, students will learn:

    • to express themselves with clarity and precision in formal, academic English
    • to develop critical insight into literary analysis
    • to broaden their range of research skills
    • to take a critical approach to their own writing
    Module Requirements
    Over the course of the semester, students will be required to write a short paper (approximately 2500-3000 words) on the short story collection Dubliners by James Joyce. The basic requirements for the course are: the completion of the term paper and regular attendance in the course, including active participation in all writing assignments.
    
    Please note that the entire module runs over two semesters: the second part is offered in the summer semester. Students must complete both parts to gain credits for the module.
    
    The entire module (winter and summer semesters) is worth 15 credit points.
    
    Language Requirements
    The course will be held in English. Students must have an active command of sophisticated, near native-speaker language skills (C1 / C2).
    
    Kompetente Sprachverwendung (hohes Sprachniveau bis fast muttersprachliche Sprachkompetenz) (C1 / C2).

• Literary Translation

  0253bA2.2
  • 17422 Language Course
    Literary Translation: A Practical Introduction to Methods and Strategies (Ruth Wishart)
    Schedule: Di 10:00-12:00 (Class starts on: 2025-10-14)
    Location: KL 29/207 Übungsraum (Habelschwerdter Allee 45)
    

    Comments

    Aims and Objectives
    This year-long module is a translation course for native speakers of English and German. It will develop the skills necessary for translating a wide range of literary texts from German into English, as well as from English into German. Students are generally expected to translate from the foreign language into the native language.
    
    Attention will be paid in Part I (winter semester) to the particular challenges that arise in translating between two closely related languages, German and English, which have developed their own characteristic range of structures, vocabulary and literary styles.
    
     Texts examined will include prose and poetry, covering a wide range of registers, including classic literature, contemporary writing and children's literature. The course will also cover some background in translation methodology, cultural factors in translation, as well as register and style.
    
    Learning Outcomes
    During the module, students will learn:

    • to develop the skills necessary for high-quality literary translation.  These include close reading, text analysis, advanced translation skills and decision-making based on a complex range of linguistic and literary factors, enabling students to make informed decisions on matters of detail and to use language both accurately and creatively.
    • to develop high level of linguistic proficiency in English, paying particular attention to  linguistic accuracy as well as sensitivity to style and register
    • to read and assess literary texts incisively, paying  attention to detail, developing strategic decision-making skills
    • to make use of various resources and dictionaries

    Module Requirements
    Students will be required both to present their own original translations as well as to analyse and compare the work of professional translators. To complete Tutorial I students will have to complete a portfolio of translations throughout the semester (roughly 2500 words).
    
    The entire module (winter and summer semesters) is worth 15 credit points.
    
    Language requirements
    The course will be held in English. Students must be native speakers of English or German and have an active command of sophisticated, near native-speaker language skills (C2) in the other language.
    
    TeilnehmerInnen müssen Deutsch oder Englisch als Muttersprache beherrschen mit kompetenter Sprachverwendung (hohes Sprachniveau bis fast muttersprachliche Sprachkompetenz, C2) in der anderen Sprache.

  • 17423 Language Course
    Transcreation: Re-thinking Translation in Terms of Creative Writing (Ruth Wishart)
    Schedule: Fr 12:00-14:00 (Class starts on: 2025-10-17)
    Location: KL 29/207 Übungsraum (Habelschwerdter Allee 45)
    

    Comments

    Aims and Objectives
    This year-long course takes an experimental approach to intercultural translation. While the more traditional approach to translation is to focus on questions of fidelity to the source text, this course will give equal consideration to the target audience and culture, and explore ways in which texts can – and possibly should – be entirely transposed from one language and culture to another in order to elicit the desired emotional response from the target audience.
    
    The term transcreation originated in advertising and marketing to describe the process of adapting a message from one language to another while evoking the same emotions and carrying the same implications (the reason why "Haribo macht Kinder froh und Erwachsene ebenso" becomes " Kids and grown-ups love it so, the happy world of Haribo" rather than "Haribo makes kids happy, and grown-ups too"). This course will explore ways in which this concept has been – and can be – applied to other genres, in particular literature. Following what has been called the "creative turn" in translation theory, we will explore how translation is being rethought and redefined in terms of adaptation and creative writing.
    
    Students will be required to produce their own "transcreative" translations on a regular basis for analysis and discussion in class workshops.
    
    Note on Language Skills: Unlike traditional translation courses where students generally translate between two languages, transcreation can function intralingually as well as interlingually (the American version of Harry Potter would be one simple example, but so would Lambs’ Tales of Shakespeare, as well as West Side Story and Gnomeo and Juliet), which means that the course can be successfully completed without knowledge of German.
    
    Learning Outcomes
    During the module, students will develop:

    • their own imagination, self-criticism and craft through a combination of structured translation exercises and independent work
    • an understanding of a wide range of creative translation strategies
    • an awareness of the diversity and interconnectedness of possible approaches to literary translation
    • critical and creative thinking on their own translation practices as well as those of others

    Module Requirements
    Over the course of the semester, students will be required to actively take part in all translation assignments, and compile a portfolio of  short pieces of creative translation (approximately 2500 words).
    
    The entire module (winter and summer semesters) is worth 15 credit points.

• Communication Skills

  0253bA2.3
  • 17424 Language Course
    Communication Skills: Speaking Your Mind: Public Speaking and Presentation Skills (Ruth Wishart)
    Schedule: Mi 12:00-14:00 (Class starts on: 2025-10-15)
    Location: KL 29/207 Übungsraum (Habelschwerdter Allee 45)
    

    Comments

    Aims and Objectives
    The aim of this year-long module is to prepare students to use English effectively in their professional career, with particular emphasis on developing the skills necessary in formal situations.
    
    Part I (winter semester) will offer students the opportunity to develop their oral communication and presentation skills to a very high level, deepening their understanding of the workings of language as an essential communication tool. During the semester, the course will develop the students' ability to present their ideas in English with precision and clarity, focussing also on skills such as delivery, body language, voice, the ability to listen and respond. The course will also examine the language skills needed to give a clear and convincing presentation in English, as well as dealing effectively with disagreement and confrontation.
    
    Learning Outcomes
    During the module, students will learn:

    • to develop oral and written communication skills
    • to express themselves with clarity and precision in English
    • to listen and respond accurately within a group discussion
    • to exert control over the flow of information within a group discussion
    • to reflect analytically on their own communication strengths and weaknesses

    Module requirements
    In each session, students will be asked to deliver a well-prepared Power Point or other visual presentation; each presentation will be followed by a discussion round chaired by one member of the class. Students will be expected to take part actively in all discussions, and will also be called on to analyse their level of participation in each discussion round.
    
    To complete the course, students are expected to deliver a number of presentations, moderate at least one round of presentations and to take part actively in all discussions and workshops.
    
    Please note that the entire module runs over two semesters: the second part, which focusses on public speaking and preparation for job interviews, is offered in the summer semester.
    
    The entire module (winter and summer semesters) is worth 15 credit points.
    
    Language requirements
    The course will be held in English. Students must have an active command of sophisticated, near native-speaker language skills (C1 / C2).
    
    Kompetente Sprachverwendung (hohes Sprachniveau bis fast muttersprachliche Sprachkompetenz) (C1 / C2).

  • 17425 Language Course
    Communication Skills: Writing Beyond the Boundaries: Creative Nonfiction and Alternative Forms of Academic Writing (Ruth Wishart)
    Schedule: Mi 14:00-16:00 (Class starts on: 2025-10-15)
    Location: KL 29/207 Übungsraum (Habelschwerdter Allee 45)
    

    Comments

    Aims and Objectives
    This year-long course takes an experimental approach to written communication, with a focus on the concept that all writing – whether literary criticism, poetry, fiction or biography – is essentially subjective.
    
    Part 1 of the course is taught in the winter semester and differs from the more conventional Academic Writing course in order to explore how our own subjectivities, histories and experiences inform our writing practices, and to consider ways in which storytelling can be used in nonfiction, including academic argumentation.
    
    We will analyse a variety of writing genres, including Memoir, Nature Writing and Travel Writing. We will also look at Fictocritcism, a postmodern approach to academic writing that combines fiction, poetry, theory and criticism.
    
    The fundamental goal of this course is to blur the boundaries between genres, making non-fiction read like fiction, so that even an academic paper can become a thriller.
    
    Throughout the semester, students will be required to contribute original writing for analysis and discussion in class workshops.
    
    Part 2 of the course focuses on creative writing and is taught in the summer semester.
    
    Learning Outcomes
    During the module, students will learn:

    • to develop their own imagination, self-criticism and craft through a combination of structured writing exercises and independent writing
    • to consider the issues raised in the writing process
    • to uncover various methods of dealing with potential problems
    • to develop their critical faculties so that they can analyse their own writing as well as that of others

    Module Requirements
    Over the course of the semester, students will be required to compile a portfolio of short pieces of original writing. The basic requirements for the course are: the completion of the portfolio and regular attendance in the course, including active participation in writing assignments and workshop discussions.
    
    The entire module (winter and summer semesters) is worth 15 credit points.
    
    Language Requirements
    The course will be held in English. Students must have an active command of sophisticated, near native-speaker language skills (C1 / C2).
    
    Kompetente Sprachverwendung(hohes Sprachniveau bis fast muttersprachliche Sprachkompetenz) (C1 / C2).

• Contemporary Britain: Language and Identity

  0253bA2.4
  • 17426 Language Course
    Contemporary Britain: Language and Identity (Ruth Wishart)
    Schedule: Mi 10:00-12:00 (Class starts on: 2025-10-15)
    Location: KL 29/207 Übungsraum (Habelschwerdter Allee 45)
    

    Comments

    Aims and Objectives
    This year-long module will analyse the language of contemporary British cultural phenomena as a means of understanding the cultural diversity and social structures in contemporary Britain today.
    
    In the winter semester, we will focus on politics and national identity. Students will analyse a variety of texts, videos and news reports in order to better understand the range of political and cultural identities which exist in Britain today – including the extent to which Euroscepticism, the political relationship with America, multiculturalism, monarchy and devolution define British identity. The course will also look at the influence the British press has on national identity, as well as the role played by the diversity of national and cultural identities within Britain itself.
    
    Learning Outcomes
    During the module, students will learn:

    • to examine a range of issues concerning cultural diversity in contemporary Britain
    • to analyse a variety of media forms: newspaper texts, films, television, song lyrics, political speeches
    • to present a research-based case study
    • to develop oral presentation skills

    Module requirements
    To complete Part I, students will be required to give a detailed presentation on one aspect of contemporary British society, and to take part in all class activities such as discussions and exercises.
    
    Please note that the entire module runs over two semesters: the second part (focussing on popular culture) is offered in the summer semester.
    
    The entire module (winter and summer semesters) is worth 15 credit points.
    
    Language requirements
    The course will be held in English. Students must have an active command of sophisticated, near native-speaker language skills (C1 / C2).
    
    Kompetente Sprachverwendung (hohes Sprachniveau bis fast muttersprachliche Sprachkompetenz) (C1 / C2).

• Modules w/o courses in this semester

  4 Modules
  • Negotiating Gender: Constructions, Representations, Theories 0253bA1.5
  • Medieval English Literatures 0253bA1.6
  • Postcolonial Literatures 0253bA1.7
  • Studying the Present Moment 0253bA1.8