# S Living On the Waterfront: Regionalism and Liminality in Representations of East Anglia and the Fens

**COURSE OUTLINE**

3.02.130: S Living On the Waterfront: Regionalism and Liminality in Representations of East Anglia and the Fens 

  * [Module] ang613 - Regional Literatures and Cultures 


  * [Credits] 6 KP 


  * [Instructor] Dr. Christian Lassen 


  * [Time] **Wednesday, 12-1 pm: weekly chat** (via "Meetings" on our Stud.IP page); **Wednesday, 1-2 pm: video conference for presentation groups** , designed to discuss the presentation scheduled for the  week 


  * [Room] online; **until further notice** : weekly chat; video conferences for presentation groups (via "Meetings") 


  * [Description] 


  * [Office Hours] see Stud.IP; until further notice, office hours will be held via video conference. Please sign up for a time slot on my Stud.IP profile ("Sprechstunden") and you will receive a link to the virtual conference room. 



  
**PRIMARY TEXTS**

  * James, M.R. _Collected Ghost Stories_. Oxford: OUP, 2013. Print. [selected short stories] 


  * Johnson, Daisy. _Fen_. London: Vintage, 2016. Print. [selected short stories] 


  * McGregor, Jon. _This Isn't the Sort of Thing That Happens to Someone Like You_. 2012. London: 4th Estate, 2017. Print. [selected short stories] 


  * Swift, Graham. _Waterland_. 1983. London: Picador, 2010. Print. 


  * Parnell, Edward. _Ghostland: In Search of a Haunted Country_. London: William Collins, 2019. Print. [selected chapters; paperback edition available in October] 



  
**ASSIGNMENTS**

  * [Prüfungsleistung] (Gruppen-)Referat (max. 2 Personen; 45-60 min.) mit Schriftlicher Ausarbeitung (10 Seiten) [oder in Ausnahmefällen: Hausarbeit (15 Seiten)] 


  * [Aktive Teilnahme] 4 Abstracts, jeweils inklusive Thema, Forschungsstand, These und Outline des Arguments (je 1 Seite insgesamt) 



Please note that written assignments (abstracts, short term papers, long term papers) need to be composed according to the style sheet ("Leitfaden")of the University of Oldenburg, which can be accessed via the 'Institutswiki'-page of the English department. The style sheet not only provides relevant information on how to write a correct bibliography but it may also help you to structure your work according to academic standards. 

Please make sure to sign the "Erklärung zum 'Plagiat'" and to attach it to your research papers. 

  * [Abgabefrist] 15. März 2020. 



## Contents

  * 1 Session One, October 21, Introduction
  * 2 Session Two, October 28: Theory Session - Regionalism
  * 3 Session Three, November 4: Theory Session - Liminality
  * 4 Session Four, November 11: Regionalism and Liminality in M.R. James's Ghost Stories
  * 5 Session Five, November 18: Becoming Eel - Devolution, Metamorphosis, and Female Identity in 
  * 6 Session Six, November 25: Uncanny Incorporations - The Language of Horror and the Horror of Language in 
  * 7 Session Seven, May, 26: Blood Circulation: Vampirism, Male Homosociality and Homosexual Panic
  * 8 Session Eight, June, 02: Blood Relations: Vampirism and the Queer Family
  * 9 Session Nine, June, 09: Blood Disease: Vampirism and AIDS
  * 10 Session Ten, June, 16: Stage Blood: Vampirism and Gender Performativity
  * 11 Session Eleven, June, 23: Blood Poisoning: Vampirism, Substance Abuse, Addiction, and Aging
  * 12 Session Twelve, June, 30: Bloody Racists: Vampirism and White Supremacy
  * 13 Session Thirteen, July, 07: Bloody Misogynists: Vampirism and Anti-Feminism
  * 14 Session Fourteen, July, 14: RPO Session



## Session One, October 21, Introduction

**Organisational Matters**

  * Assignments 



Assignments are graded and mandatory. In order to obtain 6 credits (KP), you will have to give a (group) presentation (Referat, 45-60 min.) on one of the presentation topics specified in the syllabus. In addition to that, you will have to hand in a short term paper (Ausarbeitung, 10 Seiten) by the end of term (March, 15). In exceptional cases, you may hand in a long term paper (Hausarbeit, 15 Seiten) instead of the above. However, an exception is only granted upon consultation. 

  * Presentation Topics, Presentation Groups, Video Conferences for Presentation Groups 



Presentation Topics are specified on your syllabus. In order to prepare your presentations, please pick a topic, get together in groups (see below) and write up a power-point presentation. Add your audio commentary to the presentation, save the file and send it on to me so that we can discuss your presentation in the video conference for presentation groups (see below). After that, you make your file available on Stud.IP on the Friday  your presentation so that all participants can read/ watch the presentation in time, i.e. before the session/ weekly chat. 

Requests regarding your choice of presentation topics can be send to me via e-mail, starting on Monday, October 12. I will sign you in in the order of the requests' arrival. Please check this page regularly to see if your requests have been met. 

Video Conferences for presentations take place in the second part of the weekly sessions, i.e. Wednesday 1-2 pm. Please make sure that you attend the video conference the week  your presentation is due. 

  * Active Participation 



Active Participation is ungraded but mandatory. In order to fulfil the requirements, you will have to write four abstracts, each including a topic, a state of research, a thesis statement, and a brief outline of your argument (approx. 1 page), in the course of the seminar. You can choose your own topic; however: all abstracts have to address different primary texts. In other words, your abstracts will have to cover four out of five primary materials. They are due by the end of the week (i.e. Friday) that marks the ending of the respective sections, i.e. due date _Ghost Stories (James)_ : November, 13; due date _Fen_ : November, 27; due date _This Isn't the Sort of Thing That Happens to Someone Like You_ : December, 11; due date _Waterland_ : January 15; due date _Ghostland_ : January 29. 

  * Weekly Chat 



In order to discuss the presentations and related topics, I will be in the chatroom Weekly Chat ("Meetings" on our Stud.IP page) during the first part of each session, i.e. Wednesday 12-1 pm. Please make sure to read/ watch the presentations before you join the chat. The second part of each session, i.e. Wednesday 1-2 pm, is booked for the respective presentation groups ( video conference for presentation groups) 

  * Seminarapparat 



Relevant secondary material will be made available on Stud.IP. Please note that, additionally, the syllabus includes an extensive bibliography that may be helpful with regard to your presentations and written assignments (abstracts; short/ long term papers). 
    
    
       Summary: Presentations
    

1\. Pick a presentation topic and contact me via e-mail (starting October, 12). Check below for available places. Presentation groups may consist of a maximum of 2 people. (This number may change, depending on the number of participants.) 

2\. Contact the other members of your group and prepare your presentation, i.e. power-point presentation with audio commentary. 

3\. Send me your presentation 8 days before your presentation is scheduled. 

4\. Discuss your presentation with me in a video conference 7 days, i.e week, before your presentation is scheduled. Video conferences take place on Wednesday, 1-2 pm. 

5\. Upload your file on the Friday before your presentation is scheduled. 

6\. Join the weekly chat and be ready to answer questions on the day of your presentation. Weekly chats take place on Wednesday, 12-1 pm. 

## Session Two, October 28: Theory Session - Regionalism

**Theory Texts**

  * TBA 



**Guiding Questions**

  * TBA 



## Session Three, November 4: Theory Session - Liminality

**Theory Texts**

  * TBA 



**Guiding Questions**

  * TBA 



**Video Conference**

  * _Video Conference Group_ : 



## Session Four, November 11: Regionalism and Liminality in M.R. James's Ghost Stories

**Primary Material**

  * James, M.R. "Oh , Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad." _Collected Ghost Stories_. By M.R. James. Oxford: OUP, 2013. 76-93. Print. 
  * James, M.R. "The Fenstanton Witch." Globalnet. Retrieved September 17, 2020, from http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pardos/ArchiveFenstanton.html
  * Malden, R.H. "Between Sunset and Moonrise." _Nine Ghosts_. By R.H. Malden. Project Gutenberg Australia. Retrieved September 17, 2020, from http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0605461h.html



**Secondary Material**

  * TBA 



**Further Reading**

  * TBA 



**Presentation**

  * TBA 


  * _Presentation Group_ : 



**Video Conference**

  * _Video Conference Group_ : 



## Session Five, November 18: Becoming Eel - Devolution, Metamorphosis, and Female Identity in _Fen_

**Primary Material**

  * Johnson, Daisy. "Starver." _Fen_. London: Vintage, 2016. 3-14. Print. 
  * Johnson, Daisy. "A Heavy Devotion." _Fen_. London: Vintage, 2016. 105-17. Print. 
  * Johnson, Daisy. "Birthing Stones." _Fen_. London: Vintage, 2016. 155-66. Print. 



**Secondary Material**

  * TBA 



**Presentation**

  * Becoming Eel - Devolution, Metamorphosis, and Female Identity in _Fen_


  * _Presentation Group_ : 



**Video Conference**

  * _Video Conference Group_ : 



## Session Six, November 25: Uncanny Incorporations - The Language of Horror and the Horror of Language in _Fen_

**Primary Material**

  * Johnson, Daisy. "Blood Rites." _Fen_. London: Vintage, 2016. 15-26. Print. 
  * Johnson, Daisy. "Language." _Fen_. London: Vintage, 2016. 72-90. Print. 



**Secondary Material**

  * TBA 



**Presentation**

  * Uncanny Incorporations - The Language of Horror and the Horror of Language in _Fen_


  * _Presentation Group_ : 



**Video Conference**

  * _Video Conference Group_ : 



## Session Seven, May, 26: Blood Circulation: Vampirism, Male Homosociality and Homosexual Panic

**Primary Material**

  * Stoker, Bram. _Dracula_. 1897. Eds. Nina Auerbach and David J. Skal. New York and London: Norton, 1997. Print. 



**Secondary Material**

  * Craft, Christopher. _Another Kind of Love: Male Homosexual Desire in English Discourse, 1850-1920_. Berkeley et al.: U of California P, 1994. 71-105. 
  * Clark, Damion. "Preying on the Pervert: The Uses of Homosexual Panic in Bram Stoker's _Dracula_." _Horrifying Sex: Essays on Sexual Difference in Gothic Literature_. Ed. Ruth Bienstock Anolik. Jefferson, NC, and London: McFarland, 2007. 167-76. 



**Further Reading**

  * Schaffer, Talia. "'A Wilde Desire Took Me': The Homoerotic History of _Dracula_." _ELH_ 61.2 (Summer 1994): 381-425. 



**Presentation**

  * What You Get Is What You Give, or: Blood Donation, Male Homoeroticism, and Male Homosexual Panic 


  * _Presentation Group_ : Lea Behrens, Carlotta Rabeler, Anna Gödecke 



**Video Conference**

  * _Video Conference Group_ : Svea Schneider-Pungs, Antonia Schepers, Leonie Ostendorp 



## Session Eight, June, 02: Blood Relations: Vampirism and the Queer Family

**Primary Material**

  * _Interview with a Vampire_. 1994. Dir. Neil Jordan. Perf. Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Kirsten Dunst. Warner Bros., 2003. DVD. 



**Secondary Material**

  * Benefiel, Candace R. "Blood Relations: The Gothic Perversion of the Nuclear Family in Anne Rice's _Interview with the Vampire_." _The Journal of Popular Culture_ 38.2 (2004): 261-73. 
  * Bruhm, Steven. "Gothic Sexualities." _Teaching the Gothic_ Eds. Anna Powell and Andrew Smith. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. 93-106. 



**Presentation**

  * Feeding on Family Values, or: Ambivalent Representations of the Queer Family in _Interview with the Vampire_


  * _Presentation Group_ : Svea Schneider-Pungs, Antonia Schepers, Leonie Ostendorp 



**Video Conference**

  * _Video Conference Group_ : Franca Zeisler, Aaron Bremer, Tabea Hirsch, Sophie Rosa Castro Colle Marques Schulz 



## Session Nine, June, 09: Blood Disease: Vampirism and AIDS

**Primary Material**

  * _Interview with a Vampire_. 1994. Dir. Neil Jordan. Perf. Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Kirsten Dunst. Warner Bros., 2003. DVD. 



**Secondary Material**

  * Haggerty, George E. "Anne Rice and the Queering of Culture." _Novel: A Forum on Fiction_ 32.1 (Autumn 1998): 5-18. 
  * Auerbach, Nina. _Our Vampires, Ourselves_. Chicago and London: The U of Chicago P, 1995. 163-92. 



**Presentation**

  * Dieting or Dying, or: AIDS, Abstinence, and Anti-Gay Policies of Blame 


  * _Presentation Group_ : Franca Zeisler, Aaron Bremer, Tabea Hirsch, Sophie Rosa Castro Colle Marques Schulz 



**Video Conference**

  * _Video Conference Group_ : Kea Michelle Maul, Laura Nietzold 



## Session Ten, June, 16: Stage Blood: Vampirism and Gender Performativity

**Primary Material**

  * _Ed Wood_. 1994. Dir. Tim Burton. Perf. Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, and Bill Murray. Buena Vista Pictures, 2003. DVD. 



**Secondary Material**

  * O'Brien, Harvey. "'Really? Worst Film You Ever Saw. Well, My Next One Will Be Better': Edward D. Wood Jr., Tim Burton and the Apotheosis of the Forsaken." _Trash Culture: Objects and Obsolescence in Cultural Perspective_. Ed. Gillian Pye. Oxford et al.: Peter Lang, 2010. 221-238. 
  * Latham, Rob. "Tim Burton's Trash Cinema Roots: Ed Wood and Mars Attacks!" _The Works of Tim Burton: Margins to Mainstream_. Ed. Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. 133-49. 



**Presentation**

  * Drag-cula, or: Gender, Performance, and Performativity in _Ed Wood_


  * _Presentation Group_ : Kea Michelle Maul, Laura Nietzold 



**Video Conference**

  * _Video Conference Group_ : Tristan Pargmann, Malte Stolle, Julia Tiemann, Michel Lutzke 



## Session Eleven, June, 23: Blood Poisoning: Vampirism, Substance Abuse, Addiction, and Aging

**Primary Material**

  * _Ed Wood_. 1994. Dir. Tim Burton. Perf. Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, and Bill Murray. Buena Vista Pictures, 2003. DVD. 



**Secondary Material**

  * Lennard, Dominic. "'This is my art, and it is dangerous!': Tim Burton's Artist Heroes." _The Works of Tim Burton: Margins to Mainstream_. Ed. Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. 217-30. 
  * Page, Edwin. _Gothic Fantasy: The Films of Tim Burton_. London and New York: Marion Boyars, 2007. 128-42. 



**Presentation**

  * Drug-cula , or: Dying Divas (aka Whatever Happened to Bela Lugosi?) 


  * _Presentation Group_ : Tristan Pargmann, Malte Stolle, Julia Tiemann, Michel Lutzke 



**Video Conference**

  * _Video Conference Group_ : Sarah von der Brelje, Vivien Grimme, Marian Donkor, Tabea Bleßmann 



## Session Twelve, June, 30: Bloody Racists: Vampirism and White Supremacy

**Primary Material**

  * _Twilight_. 2008. Dir. Catherine Hardwicke. Perf. Kristen Steward and Robert Pattinson. Summit Entertainment, 2010. DVD. 



**Secondary Material**

  * Borgia, Danielle N. "_Twilight_ : The Glamorization of Abuse, Codependency, and White Privilege." _The Journal of Popular Culture_ 37.1 (2014): 152-73. 
  * Jensen, Kristian. "Noble Werewolves or Native Shape-Shifters." _The Twilight Mystique: Critical Essays on the Novels and Films_. Eds. Amy M. Clarke and Marijane Osborn. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2010. 92-105. 



**Presentation**

  * Of Vampires and Werewolves, or: Racist Representations of Caucasian and Native American Stereotypes in _Twilight_


  * _Presentation Group_ : Sarah von der Brelje, Vivien Grimme, Marian Donkor, Tabea Bleßmann 



**Video Conference**

  * _Video Conference Group_ : Sarah Kaltofen, Janina Gomez, Johanna Bode, Lennart Flegel 



## Session Thirteen, July, 07: Bloody Misogynists: Vampirism and Anti-Feminism

**Primary Material**

  * _Twilight_. 2008. Dir. Catherine Hardwicke. Perf. Kristen Steward and Robert Pattinson. Summit Entertainment, 2010. DVD. 



**Secondary Material**

  * Jarvis, Christine. "The Twilight of Feminism? Stephanie Meyer's Saga and the Contradictions of Contemporary Girlhood." _Children's Literature in Education_ 45 (2014): 101-15. 
  * Bliss, Ann V. "Abstinence, American Style." _The Twilight Mystique: Critical Essays on the Novels and Films_. Eds. Amy M. Clarke and Marijane Osborn. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2010. 107-20. 



**Presentation**

  * No Sex Before Marriage, or: Anti-Feminism and the Will to Sexual Submission in _Twilight_


  * _Presentation Group_ : Sarah Kaltofen, Janina Gomez, Johanna Bode, Lennart Flegel 



## Session Fourteen, July, 14: RPO Session

**Guidelines for finding your RPO topic:**

Your RPO topic needs to be related to at least one of the primary texts