Learning Outcomes
Cultural sociologists like Richard Sennett, Ulrich Beck and Zygmunt Baumann subdivide the 20th century into a ‘first’ and a ‘second Modernity’. ‘Second Modernity’ expands in the second half of the 20th century and is characterized as ‘reflexive modernity’, ‘risk society’ or ‘liquid modernity’. It is ruled by quite a lot of crisis-phenomena; that includes global financial crises, so it is no wonder that economy appears more and more as a topic both in films and in contemporary literature. In this seminar, we are going to analyze and interpret the following literary texts and subject them to a reading with economic reflections. The following questions are going to be clarified: What do these texts reveal in their poetic reflection of economy about the ‘second modernity’? How are the economic circumstances presented poetically? To what extent do these texts function as ‘poetic counter-discourses’? How far does their social criticism go? With the dispute of rationality of the financial system, is it also the coherence of the narrated world that is at stake?
Primärliteratur: Rainald Goetz Johann Holtrop (2012), Elfriede Jelinek Die Kontrakte des Kaufmanns (2009), Jonas Lüscher Frühling der Barbaren (2013), Kathrin Röggla wir schlafen nicht (2004), Martin Suter Business Class. Geschichten aus der Welt des Managements (2000), Uwe Timm Kopfjäger (1991).
Students learn (1) how to cooperate and participate regularly and actively, (2) how to present a literary subject orally and (3) how to write a paper. This way they become acquainted with (1) multiple methods of text analysis and interpretation, (2) the scientific handling of bibliography/ secondary literature and (3) their own production of scientific texts. The language of the course is german, which additionally helps the students improve their language competence.
Course Content (Syllabus)
Cultural sociologists like Richard Sennett, Ulrich Beck and Zygmunt Baumann subdivide the 20th century into a ‘first’ and a ‘second Modernity’. ‘Second Modernity’ expands in the second half of the 20th century and is characterized as ‘reflexive modernity’, ‘risk society’ or ‘liquid modernity’. It is ruled by quite a lot of crisis-phenomena; that includes global financial crises, so it is no wonder that economy appears more and more as a topic both in films and in contemporary literature. In this seminar, we are going to analyze and interpret the following literary texts and subject them to a reading with economic reflections. The following questions are going to be clarified: What do these texts reveal in their poetic reflection of economy about the ‘second modernity’? How are the economic circumstances presented poetically? To what extent do these texts function as ‘poetic counter-discourses’? How far does their social criticism go? With the dispute of rationality of the financial system, is it also the coherence of the narrated world that is at stake?
Primärliteratur: Rainald Goetz Johann Holtrop (2012), Elfriede Jelinek Die Kontrakte des Kaufmanns (2009), Jonas Lüscher Frühling der Barbaren (2013), Kathrin Röggla wir schlafen nicht (2004), Martin Suter Business Class. Geschichten aus der Welt des Managements (2000), Uwe Timm Kopfjäger (1991).
Additional bibliography for study
Primärliteratur: Rainald Goetz Johann Holtrop (2012), Elfriede Jelinek Die Kontrakte des Kaufmanns (2009), Jonas Lüscher Frühling der Barbaren (2013), Kathrin Röggla wir schlafen nicht (2004), Martin Suter Business Class. Geschichten aus der Welt des Managements (2000), Uwe Timm Kopfjäger (1991).
Sekundärliteratur:
Zygmunt Baumann (2003): Flüchtige Moderne, Frankfurt a.M.; Ulrich Beck (1986): Risikogesellschaft: auf dem Weg in eine andere Moderne, Frankfurt a.M.; Erik Brynjolfsson/Andrew McAfee (2012): Race Against the Machine. Wie die digitale Revolution dem Fortschritt Beine macht; Erik Brynjolfsson/Andrew McAfee (2014): The Second Machine Age. Wie die nächste digitale Revolution unser Leben verändern wird; Martin Felix (2014): Geld, die wahre Geschichte. Über den blinden Fleck des Kapitalismus, München; Karl Diehl/Paul Mombert (Hrsg.) (1979): Ausgewählte Lesestücke zum Studium der politischen Ökonomie. Kapital und Kapitalismus, Frankfurt a.M.; Franziska Schößler (2006): Literaturwissenschaft als Kulturwissenschaft, Tübingen, Basel; Georg Mein/Franziska Schößler (Hrsg.) (2005): Tauschprozesse. Kulturwissenschaftliche Verhandlungen des Ökonomischen, Bielefeld; Richard Sennett (2005): Die Kultur des neuen Kapitalismus. Berlin; Gerhard Willke (2006): Kapitalismus. Frankfurt a.M.; Joseph Vogl (2010): Das Gespenst des Kapitals. Zürich.