This course familiarizes students with skills and methods necessary for the study of English and American literatures. It covers influential theoretical approaches, critical practices, literary forms, styles, and techniques. In doing so, it provides an introduction to careful textual analysis and to the critical and historical understanding this requires. The course also explores fundamental issues of literary history, literature as an institution, processes of periodization and canonization, and illustrates these through examples and case studies. The basics of scholarly research will also be addressed.

Students are strongly encouraged to attend the weekly seminar (WÜ) that accompanies the lecture course.

Required texts: Michael Meyer, English and American Literatures, 4th rev. ed. Tübingen: Francke, 2011. Further course materials will be provided electronically.