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SoSe 23: Introduction to Cultural Studies: National Identity in British Fiction and Film

Marie Catherine Menzel

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What does “national identity” mean in a specifically British context? Starting from a theoretical examination of concepts such as identity and alterity, nationhood, cultural memory, and subjectivity, this seminar will explore a selection of literary and cinematic conceptualisations of British national identity that represent different intersectional subject positions and nationhood-related ideas in a twentieth and twenty-first century British context. What is Englishness as opposed to Britishness? What can immigrant Britishness look and feel like? What roles do gender, sexuality, class, race etc. play in such conceptualisations? etc.

The following novels will be on the syllabus and need to be procured by the participants, in addition to a number of short stories, essays, films, and, of course, theoretical texts, which will be made available through Blackboard:

Girl, Woman, Other (Bernadine Evaristo)
England, England (Julian Barnes)

If you decide to take this course, please be prepared to do the readings and contribute to class.

Participants of this course should already be familiar with the basic methodologies and perspectives of Literary and Cultural Studies, which are taught in the “Introduction to Literary Studies” module and in the companion lecture to this seminar, the AM2 “Grundkurs: Introduction to Cultural Studies” (only offered in the winter term). For self-study or review of the Cultural Studies basics ahead of the course, I recommend:

British Cultural Studies: An Introduction (Third Edition), Graeme Turner, 2003
The SAGE Dictionary of Cultural Studies, Chris Barker, 2004

Full credits (5 CP) can be gained by participating regularly and actively in class and classroom activities, fulfilling the requirements for “active participation” (tba, e.g. assignments, presentation) and the eventual submission of a ca. 2000-word seminar paper.

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