British and American Gay and Lesbian Writing in the 20th Century

Kursbeschreibung / -kommentar

S British and American Gay and Lesbian Fiction
This course will provide an introduction to and a survey of authors and texts from the UK and the United States, which have contributed greatly to the field of gay and lesbian literature during the course of the last century.
We will start our survey by looking at one of the most (in)famous cases of an author's public downfall due to his own sexual preference, the Irish writer Oscar Wilde in the late 19th century and from there go on to explore a number of British and American texts in more detail.
The seminar has several aims; first, to introduce students to a range of key texts which have sought to represent the experiences of gay men and/or lesbians; second, to encourage examination of how the diversity of these representations relates to their historical and cultural context; third, to evaluate the relationship between fictional writing and the emergence of the terms "gay" and "lesbian" as social categories or "identities".

Students should read The Well of Loneliness during the semester break and familiarise themselves with the other texts in the order that they will be discussed (see below).

Primary Reading:
• Hall, Radclyffe (1928). The Well of Loneliness.
• Baldwin, James (1956). Giovanni's Room.
• Isherwood, Christopher (1961). A Single Man.
• Winterson, Jeanette (1985). Oranges are not the Only Fruit.

Suggested Secondary Reading:

A bibliography with relevant secondary texts will be made available in the first session of the course.
Assessment: Regular and active participation, an expert session and a term paper

2 Kreditpunkte: Expert session and book review
5 Kreditpunkte: Expert session and exam
7 Kreditpunkte: Expert session and term paper