American Cultural Module

The course consists of three parts:
• Lectures Postmodern American Literature
• Seminars American Poetry of the 19th and 20th Centuries
• Tutorials American Society and Culture

Postmodern American Literature
• Introduction of various methodological approaches to literary works, especially the Geistesgeschichte-based methods of defining the characteristics of individual literary periods and historical epochs
• An overview of contemporary philosophical and sociological treatmnets of the s.c. postmodern epoch (esp. the theoretical contributions by Lyotard, Baudrillard, Jameson)
• Reading, analysis and classification of post WW2 literary works based on the above theoretical framework. Students familiarize themselves with selected representatives of the Beat generation, American Metafiction, literary cyberpunk, literary Avant-Pop, Generation X, hypertext fiction, etc.
• Critical survey of existing classifications, typologies and treatments of postmodern literature

American Poetry of the 19th and 20th Centuries
The seminar work is divided into eight thematic sections: the formative period of modern American poetry in the 19th century (W. Whitman, E. A. Poe, E. Dickinson); American modernism (E. Pond, T. S. Eliot, W. Stevens); traditionalism in modern American poetry (R. Frost, E. A. Robinson); the issue of African-American poetry (L. Hughes, C. Cullen, G. Brooks, L. Clifton); American experimental modernism (E. E. Cummings); the beat generation (A. Ginsberg, L. Ferlinghetti, G. Corso, G. Snyder); confessional poetry (S. Plath, R. Lowell); contemporary American poetry (J. Ashbery, C. Simic, M. Strand). A comprehensive study of these issues makes it possible for the students to critically assess the evolvement of American poetical thought in a wider national and international context.

American Society and Culture
American culture, geography, history (colonization, independence, settlement, immigration), society (basic values, religion, ethnic diversity, politics, education, economy), culture (film, music, television), sports.

Postmodern American Literature
Baudrillard, Jean. Simulaker in simulacija. Popoln zločin. Prev. Anja Kosjek. Ljubljana: ŠOU, Študentska založba, 1999. COBISS.SI-ID - 80103936
Bolter, Jay David. Writing Space: The Computer, Hypertext, and the Redemiation of Print. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2001. COBISS.SI-ID – 22306653
Hayles, N. Katherine. Electronic Literature. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame, 2008. COBISS.SI-ID - 39271778
Jameson, Fredric. Postmodernism or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. Durham: Duke University Press, 1991.
Kos, Janko. Na poti v postmoderno. Ljubljana: Literarno-umetniško društvo Literatura, 1995. COBISS.SI-ID - 49227520
Postmodernizem. Literarni leksikon 43. Ljubljana: DZS, 1995. COBISS.SI-ID - 53696256
McCaffery, Larry, ur. Storming the Reality Studio. A Casebook of Cyberpunk and Postmodern Fiction. Durham: Duke University Press, 1994. COBISS.SI-ID – 27272034
McHale, Brian. Constructing Postmodernism. New York: Routledge, 1992. COBISS.SI-ID - 74082
Millard, Kenneth. Contemporary American Fiction. An Introduction to American Fiction since 1970. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. COBISS.SI-ID – 13844322
Rebein, Robert. Hicks, Tribes and Dirty Realists. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2001. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xww&AN=93804…
Strehovec, Janez. Tehnokultura – kultura tehna. Filozofska vprašanja novomedijskih tehnologij in kibernetske umetnosti. Ljubljana: Koda-ŠOU, 1998. COBISS.SI-ID – 78961408 http://www.dlib.si/stream/urn:nbn:si:doc-oi2oiaff/9ff585cd-2fca-4023-a4…

American Poetry of the 19th and 20th Centuries
Avanzo, M. ed. 1986. Antologija ameriške poezije 20. stoletja. Ljubljana: CZ. COBISS.SI-ID - 109365
Ellman, R., and R. O’Clair, eds. 1988. The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry. New York & London: W. W. Norton&Company. COBISS.SI-ID - 6930530
Gray, R. American Poetry of the Twentieth Century. Longman Literature in English Series. London & New York: Longman. COBISS.SI-ID – 63478626
Grosman, M., ed. 1995. American Literature for Non-American Readers. Frankfurt am Mein/Bern: Peter Lang. COBISS.SI-ID - 1333346
Stanovnik, M. 1980. Angloameriške smeri v 20. stoletju. Literarni leksikon, št. 8. Ljubljana: DZS. COBISS.SI-ID - 11194113

American Society and Culture
Poljudna in strokovna besedila po izboru učitelja in študentov. // Popular and expert texts based on the teacher’s and the students’ choice.
Datesman, Maryanne Kearny, JoAnn Crandall and Edward. N Kearny. 1997. The American ways: an introduction to American culture. New York: Longman. COBISS.SI-ID - 24271970
Henderson, S. 2009. Aspects of American History. London, New York: Routledge. COBISS.SI-ID – 44901986, https://www.gbv.de/dms/goettingen/577965719.pdf
Mauk, David and John Oakland. American civilization. London: Routledge. COBISS.SI-ID – 31550050
Whitney, F., N. Click. 1994. An Outline of American History. Washington, D.C.: United States Information Agency. COBISS.SI-ID - 591229