Nobel (Sur)Prizes: The Business of Literary Reputation Course Description: Spring 2018 GSD 340 (37770) / C L 323 (33205) / EUS 347 (35935) Instructor: Katherine Arens ([email protected]>
Nobel Prizes in "literature" offer an astounding array of surprises. In 2015, Svetlana Alexievich, a historian, was awarded the prize for "literature." In 1999, Günter Grass, author of The Tin Drum (1959) and other controversial social-critical novels, was awarded the Nobel Prize -- the 7th German, and the 11th German-language author to do so --, but he was on the public's list of probable winners since the late 70s, with his best work purportedly behind him (not true). Such Nobel Prize surprises chart a fantastic map to Europe's imagined identity as the heart of Western culture -- and to how literary reputations are made, brokered, and broken on the markets of international media politics. Starting with recent prize winners from Northern and Central Europe, and moving backwards in time, this course will introduce some Nobel-Prize-winning authors (authors who wrote in German, the Scandinavian languages, and [in one case] about Afrikaans-speakers). Each author will, however, be taken as a case study not only in literary aesthetics, but also as one in literary politics: s/he will be introduced through the words of the Nobel Committee's statements. Why were these authors picked to be the voices of their generations, and why at their particular moments? The result is a dynamic image of how books REALLY work in an age of the mass and social media.
Readings and Assignments will draw on the following list of authors: 1909: Selma Lagerlöf (Sweden) 1981: Elias Canetti (Hungary/Germany) 1912: Gerhard Hauptmann (Germany) 1991: Nadine Gordimer (South Africa - in 1928: Sigrid Undset (Norway) English, sometimes about Afrikaaners) 1929: Thomas Mann (Germany) 1999: Günter Grass (Germany), Cat and Mouse 1946: Hermann Hesse (Switzerland) 2004: Elfriede Jelinek (Austria) 1972: Heinrich Böll (Germany) 2009: Herta Müller (German born in Romania)
• This course carries the Global Cultures Flag. Global Cultures courses are designed to increase your familiarity with cultural groups outside the United States. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from assignments covering the practices, beliefs, and histories of at least one non-U.S. cultural group, past or present. • This course carries the Writing Flag. Writing Flag courses are designed to give students experience with writing in an academic discipline. In this class, you can expect to write regularly during the semester, complete substantial writing projects, and receive feedback from your instructor to help you improve your writing. You will also have the opportunity to revise one or more assignments, and you may be asked to read and discuss your peers’ work. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from your written work.
Assignments and Grading 6 one-page précis, each a close reading of text or pair of texts: 6 x 5% each = 30 % of grade 1 short paper (2-4 pp.), with possible rewrite) = 20% of grade 1 longer paper (8 pp.) (due in phases as indicated on syllabus, and completed byend of semester): 1) Abstract - 10%; 2) Bibliography - 10%; 3) Final Paper and resubmission of corrected work = 30% of final grade (50% total).
LEARNING GOALS: By the end of the semester you will be able to: • research and locate book reviews and scholarly articles about literature and literary authors • understand how winners for literary prizes like the Nobel Prizes are chosen and what they mean for a writer's career • explain how and why literary texts are critiqued and/or appreciated • identify how an author establishes literary reputation • critique points of view in reviews and scholarly assessments • plan and execute close readings of passages in literary texts, showing how the author constructs her/his point of view • write a medium-length paper up to academic standards of writing and documentation, using text data to support arguments
Nobel (Sur)Prizes: The Business of Literary Reputation Course Description: Spring 2018 GSD 340 (37770) / C L 323 (33205) / EUS 347 (35935)
WEEK 1: 16, 18 January TU ICE STORM
TH Introduction to the course LECTURE REFERENCE: • Foucault, "What is an Author?" • "Horizon of Expectation"
WEEK 2: 23, 25 January TU Introducing the Nobel Prize and How It works. READ: From
TH The Nobel Prize in Comparison READ: • Ingmar Björkstén, "The Literary Legacy of Alfred Nobel" • William Riggan, "The Swedish Academy and the Nobel Prize in Literature" • Look up the nominating procedure on the Nobel site. Comparisons: How other prizes work • David Lehman, "May the Best Author Win- Fat Chance" • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booker_Prize • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Award • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebula_Award • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Book_Awards • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Book_Prize • http://stopyourekillingme.com/Awards/ READING GOAL: Read around in these other prizes; what kinds of interests do they serve and how are they like or not like the Nobel? Who profits from them, and how? You're looking for how these prizes serve what is called "the business of books" -- the way publishers and authors and the public interact for both fun and profit. One example: the Nobel is given for a career; many other book are for "best x of the year" -- what does that difference mean for what they say about the books and choice?
WEEK 3: 30 January, 1 February TU Do We Approve of the Nobel? (in approximate order of interest, if you can't get through all; most are short) READ: • Specter, "Letter from Stockholm: The Nobel Syndrome" • Kirn, "The Stockholm Syndrome: Is the Nobel a Curse?" • Winegarten, "The Nobel Prize for Literature" • Vinciguerra, "The Nobels that Some Felt Weren't so Dynamite" • Ball, " I Nominated Bob Dylan . . . ." • Love, "How I Won the Nobel Prize (for Naguib Mahfouz)" RECOMMENDED • Gibbs, "Prize and Prejudice" (on Soyinka's prize-- one of the few to non- European authors) • Washbourne, "Translation, Littérisation, and the Nobel Prize for Literature" • Lovell, "Gao Xingjian, the Nobel Prize, and Chinese Intellectuals READING GOAL: These are essays by insiders denouncing the Nobel Prize. Figure out some of their reasons; take stock of what they say in comparison to the "official party line." LECTURE FOLLOWUP: transitioning into systematic analysis
TH Günter Grass: Case Study 1 READ: • Nobel Committee Statement • Grass' Nobel lecture • Pryce-Jones, "The Failure of Günter Grass: Another Nobel bomb." READING GOAL: These three texts represent the three voices present in any Nobel Prize situations. The Nobel Committee makes up a "reading" of the career; the author complies or resists; the critics respond with "yay" or "yuck." Figure out where they're coming from? What are they really trying to do, aside from give/ approve of a prize? LECTURE FOLLOWUP: what they're covering up (using author history) -- the place of research in understanding this project/
WEEK 4: 6, 8 February TU Grass, The Tin Drum READ: • Plot summary:
TH Grass, Cat and Mouse READ: • Short Grass biography (and the one in the Nobel site)
WEEK 5: 13, 15 February TU Grass, Dog Years, READ: • Part 1, pp. 1-72, all the "morning shifts" (note there are 33 of them. Why's that an important number?) Focus on the early ones if you can't read them all. • Plot summary:
TH Heinrich Böll: Case Study 2 READ: • Nobel statement (note its "he's not Günter Grass" tone) • Böll's Nobel presentation • Böll's biography:
WEEK 6: 20, 22 February TU Böll, The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum READ: • Full novel • Plot summary:
TH Elias Canetti: Case Study 3 READ: • Nobel statements • Canetti's official biography (he did not give a speech) • Biography:
WEEK 7: 27 February, 1 March TU Canetti, Auto-da-Fe READ: • Part 1, up to p. 53 (and the whole of the part if you can) , and "The Red Cock" (last chapter of the book) • Plot summary:
TH WORK DAY (professor will not be present) USE THIS DAY TO WORK WITH YOUR PARTNER(S): the next class, you will have TWO précis assignments due, one synthetic and one analytic. Due next class; pick Böll, Canetti, or a Grass text different from the one you worked on before.
WEEK 8: 6, 8 March TU Hermann Hesse: Case Study 4 READ: • Nobel statement • Hesse's speech • Steppenwolf (all) READING GOAL: Steppenwolf was the book of a generation, insanely popular with college kids for a decade after it appeared. Does the Nobel Committee get it right? Does it appeal to you, and why? What themes are in it that help it appeal? CLASS FOLLOWUP: We'll work through the novel in light of what you have to do for your short paper, due after spring break on the day indicated. WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT DUE: Analytic and Synthetic Précis 2: with a partner (or two), complete TWO précis and hand in (one copy of the two assignments with both/all names) --see above for details
TH Hesse, The Glass Bead Game (aka Magister Ludi, the "Master of the Game" in Latin) READ: • "The Glass Bead Game: A General Introduction," -44 • -Chapter 1: "The Call," 47-85 (skim after the first 10 pp or so) • -Chapter 2: "Waldzell," 86-119 (if you can) READING GOAL: Figure out how the "General Introduction is supposed to work with relation to the inside of the story CLASS FOLLOWUP: "Frame narratives" and narrator point of view: where the point is between the "plot" and the writing.
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WEEK 9: 20, 22 March TU Elfriede Jelinek: Case Study 5 READ: • Nobel Statement • Biography:
TH Jelinek, The Piano Teacher READ: • Plot summary:
WEEK 10: 27, 29 March TU Herta Müller: Case Study 6 READ: • Nobel Statements • The Appointment, up to p. 90 or as much as you can (up to whole book; it's short) READING GOAL: Müller specializes in victim narratives; what is she doing with her retrospective passages. Be prepared to look closely at the first few pages in terms of how it builds up the relation between the past and the present. CLASS FOLLOWUP: A close reading of this first-person narrative in the terms suggested by the Nobel Committee.
TH Topic 1: Introduction to research: How to structure a project and research it Topic 2: Thomas Mann, Case Study 7 READ: Nobel Statements READING GOAL/DISCUSSION GOAL: Compare what the committee said to what Mann said; be sure you know where he's coming from by reading his biography.
WEEK 11: 3, 5 April TU READ: • Thomas Mann, Death in Venice READING GOAL: This is one of the master novellas of modernism. Again, read it in light of the Nobel statements. What is the committee trying to make of it? CLASSROOM FOLLOWUP: What alternatives are there for researching a novella like this one.
TH READ: • Thomas Mann, Tristan READING GOAL: What kind of ethnic and social stereotypes is Mann trading in? Be ready to characterize all the main characters. CLASSROOM FOLLOWUP: Practicuum: setting up a close reading.
WEEK 12: 10, 12 April TU Selma Lagerlöf, Case Study 8 READ: • Nobel statements • Plot summary:
TH READ: • Lagerlöf, Jerusalem, 275-342 • ---, The Holy City (Jerusalem II), 31-80 (on the end of the Jerusalem pdf) • IF YOU'RE INTERESTED (not required), the film is excellent;
WEEK 13: 17, 19 April TU Sigrid Undset, Case Study 9 READ: • Nobel statements • Plot summaries:
TH READ: • Sigrid Undset, Kristin Lavransdattar: The Wreath, first part, to p. 97 READING GOAL: Is this medieval or modern? Come in with ideas about why this is or isn't a modern feminist novel. CLASSROOM FOLLOWUP: An analytic précis about how the novel represents its society -- what the "message" is about men/women relations. We'll focus on the early pages of the novel and how they set up a horizon of expectation.
WEEK 14: 24, 26 April TU READ: • Sigrid Undset, Thjodulf READING GOAL: This is one of Undset's urban stories that the Nobel Committee did not like. Come in with three contrasts/comparisons to Lavransdattar with respect to the representations of people. CLASSROOM FOLLOWUP: Synthetic précis that compares Undset's two novels on terms of how interpersonal relationships are constructed, with the goal of answering the question about how medieval her medieval novel is, in comparison to her representation of the contemporary scene.
TH Nadine Gordimer, Case Study 10 READ: • Nobel statements • Plot Summary:
WEEK 15: 1, 3 May TU READ: • Gordimer, Burger's Daughter, read from the beginning as far as you can get through the first sequences READING GOAL: Look at the point of view of this narrator -- figure out who is telling the story and why she is positioned the way she is, given what the plot shows (check out relation of time periods, if there is more than one narrator, etc.) CLASSROOM FOLLOWUP: setting up an analytic précis about how the novel is constructing its historical truth out of the memory of a little girl.
TH Final class CLOSING DISCUSSION: what kinds of novels do you write if you hope for the Nobel Prize? WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT DUE: ANALYTIC PRECIS 3; this is to be done solo -choose a text we have read, and finish one of précis we started in class, or something very like it (close reading of one of the systems in the text -- gender, time, etc. )
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Final project due in by or before the official exam time:
Wednesday, May 9, 9:00 am-12:00 pm
Instructors may not change this time (see https://registrar.utexas.edu/schedules/182/finals)
Submit your project to me via email (NOT THROUGH CANVAS) in ONE document that has all three parts of the assignment in it. Please title the document LastnameFirstnameFinalproject.docx so that I don't get 30 files with the same name.
ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTIONS **Due Dates on Syllabus **Format Directions Appended
1) Reading Goals Most daily assignments consist of readings from Nobel-Prize-winning literature the Swedish Academy's comments on it, and critical commentary on the both. Your goal in reading them it to look at what images of the authors and their texts are being evoked -- how they are being marketed, and to what audiences. When there are readings on the syllabus other than the literature and comments from the Swedish Academy, a reading goal will be indicated to help you wade through the material and to set up class discussions. All readings due the day indicated on syllabus; all readings are in the class CANVAS site or are linked to a given URL.
2) Précis These are short (1- page) assignments that are designed to encourage critical readings of the texts rather than reactions. We will model them in class before you have any due. See the attached pages for various descriptions of what a précis is. Your assignments for this class are split between synthetic précis and analytic précis: the former will likely include a data matrix constructed on compare/contrast logics (comparing contexts of two texts to highlight biases); the latter, how a text works -- what text details point to (often an issue/implication logic or a comparison of characters or situations). In both cases, the implications need to point to an interpretation beyond the literal summary of the facts -- you have to draw conclusions about why I should care about what you have found out about the text or texts you address.
3) Short Paper: Author's Agenda This is a short, 2-4-pp. paper, that you will have to rewrite if it is poorly done (the final grade in that case will be an average of the original and rewrite grades). The topic: take one of the authors' Nobel Prize speeches and explain how it responds to what the Nobel Committee members or other critics you have read have said about them. Remember that the actual Nobel Speech comes almost 2 months after the prizes are announced; the authors use them to perform their identities --sometimes resisting the Nobel Committee (see Undset for an example), other times using the Nobel speech event as a platform for something else (possibly Grass). The point of this paper is to give you experience in using evidence from a text to substantiate your opinion; it will require you to know something about the author (at least the Wikipedia article with a fuller biography than is on the Nobel site), to figure out what they're up to.
4) Final Project (due the end of semester: Researching and Marketing an Author (to be submitted in phases) This project is an 8-page research paper that has several options in topics: • Focusing on one text as a case study, compare what happens with an author's reputation: before or after the prize, • or for two different publics, • or in two translations, or in two different media (film and text) • OR write an extended critical book review aimed at introducing the author and her/his art for a specific audience today (this will include "close readings" of what the author intends to do and how she/he embodies it / addresses it through details of the book). Pick a Nobel Prize winner (it does not have to be one of the ones we read), read the book (and watch the movie, if that's what you want to do, or find alternate translations, and research who the critics are), and then research reviews and author interviews that make your project possible (use the bibliographic tools on the class book list; that will be discussed in class). You can do a poet or historian if that's your thing, not just a literary author (or Bob Dylan!!!, the latest Nobelist from the English-speaking world). You will have to read the whole text and include citations from the text. You will get a grading rubric as a checklist to what needs to be there.
PHASE 1 submission: An abstract of 200-250 words about what project you are going to do (see description of how to write an abstract), how you'll go about it, and what you hope to show about the author/work/reception (why should I care about reading that author, for example). Include a bibliographic citation on the novel in proper form.
PHASE 2 submission: The bibliography for your paper, which must include at least four reviews/interviews/articles about authors from popular sources (newspapers, magazines like Time or The New York Review of Books) and three academic articles on your author and/or the specific book and/or the context of the book you are writing about. Remember that the Nobel site has some bibliography, too, as a place to start. Watch format directions. Correct bibliographic format is critical here, as is appropriateness of your sources. Since some reviews are very short, you may well need more than four; sometimes you may need a history source (check Historical Abstracts). You might want to look up things like: • biographical data on author, filmmaker or adapter • what types of works they have produced • what the plot is, or what issues in a book of poetry • if there's a film or other adaptation of it (e.g. opera of Death in Venice) • reviews of books, movie, or other performances • historical setting of author and/or work
PHASE 3 submission: Full final paper, with corrected abstract (make it match what you did do) and full bibiography (you may have needed to check something more than in your oriignal submission). Due the official exam day and time.
FORMAL CRITERIA FOR PAPERS
1) A paper has the same sections as a précis: -an introduction, consisting of a statement of the paper's focus [the topic and data to be considered]), a description of the method or strategy of your presentation, and the goal of your comparison -two to four examples or issues that follow from the introduction -a conclusion, which critiques (positively or negatively) or evaluates what you have just proved -- a statement which builds on your goal, but extends it. THE GRADING FOR EACH SECTION IS JUST LIKE THAT FOR A PRÉCIS.
2) A paper is TYPED, double-spaced, in a non-funny font, on white paper, in black print. Don't forget that computers have spell-check, too. 3) A paper has a title page or a title block, with a title, your name, the date and the course for which it is written. 4) All pages of a paper must be numbered sequentially, either on the bottom, or at the upper-right corner. 5) A paper has a bibliography of works cited (format: University of Chicago Manual of Style, or MLA Handbook -- ask your librarian if these do not sound familiar, and pick the one that best approximates the style in your field/major). 6) A paper will include quotations from the texts you are discussing, with the source and page numbers indicated in footnotes, OR in parenthetical documentation (again, see the style sheet of your choice for clarification). Note, too, that there are DIFFERENT punctuation conventions and typing questions for quotations included in your running text and those used as offset blocked quotes. Hint: Long quotations are treated differently on the page than short quotations -- your mission is to figure out the difference. Note, in addition, that paragraphs should usually NOT end with dangling quotations -- a quotation needs to have a closing comment, tying it to the theme of the paper.
EACH OF ITEMS 2-6 CAN BRING YOU A DEDUCTION OF UP TO AN ENTIRE LETTER GRADE. PROFESSIONAL FORMATTING IS A SERIOUS ISSUE.
Abstracts
Adapted from a handout by Janet Swaffar Department of Germanic Languages University of Texas at Austin
Format of an Abstract: An abstract is usually between 200-250 words in length, in prose paragraphs. Abstracts tell what the topic is, how it will be discussed, briefly exemplify, and point to the conclusion (the goal of your paper).
What do I keep in mind when writing my abstract?
Topic: State what the paper is about and how it ties in with an overriding purpose -- how it will answer a question that the audience will be interested in reading (1-2 sentences)
Argument: State what it is you are going to show in your paper and how (1 sentence making the generalities specific)
Exemplification: Illustrate the analytical method briefly (2-3 sentences that explain HOW you are going to argue this case)
Goal: Tell what you will conclude with--what you hope to show, and why that goal is significant.
Good ploys to make sure you have summed up what you are doing: Give abstract to others to read and ask them what they think the paper is about and what the point is.
Have someone underline 2-3 key words or phrases in your abstract. Check against your own predetermined key word selections, to make sure you are using consistent terminology all the way through your paper
Take the title seriously--remember that it much catch the interest of potential readers and tie in explicitly to the course discussions
Plan your paper at the same time you write your abstract.
BOOKS
MAJOR RESOURCE: Nobel Foundation Website
NOBEL FOUNDATION readings: "The Nobel Foundation," Birgitta Lemmel "Statues of the Nobel Foundation" "Nobel Prize in Literature," Kjell Espmark
HOW TO FIND BOOK REVIEWS AND SCHOLARLY LITERATURE PCL Library Guide to English Studies • http://guides.lib.utexas.edu/c.php?g=520961&p=3562025 home • http://guides.lib.utexas.edu/c.php?g=520961&p=3730588 book review page • Don't forget MLA International Bibliography See also: NexisUni for finding full text (PCL, under list of databases) Historical Abstracts for finding detailed articles about the history in the books.
ARTICLES Ball, Gordon. "Dylan and the Nobel." Oral Tradition, 22/1 (2007): 14-29 ---. " I Nominated Bob Dylan for the Nobel Prize More than a Dozen Times." Washington Post, 14 October 2016
BOOKS (with films, where appropriate) Böll, Heinrich. The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum. Trans. Leila Vennewitz. NY: Viking Penguin, 1994. ISBN 0140187286 paper Canetti, Elias. Auto-da-Fe. Trans. D. V. Wedgewood. London: Pan Books, 1978. ISBN 0-330-25556-8 Canetti, Elias. Crowds & Power. Trans. Carol Stewart. NY: Continuum,1978. ISBN 0- 8264-0089-2 Gordimer, Nadine. Burger's Daughter. NY: Viking Penguin, 1980. ISBN 0140055932 paper ( Grass, Günter. The Danzig Trilogy. Trans. Ralph Manheim. Pantheon Books, 1987. ISBN 0151238162 ON CANVAS SITE: separate pdfs for Tin Drum, Cat and Mouse (orig. in English in 1963) and Dog Years (1965 in English) (Tin Drum, which is availalble for checkout from
BOOKS RECOMMENDED (info on translations) Böll, Heinrich. Group Portrait with Lady. Trans. Leila Vennewitz. Viking Penguin, 1994.
Böll, Heinrich. The Stories of Heinrich Böll. Trans. Leila Vennewitz. Northwestern UP,
Canetti, Elias. The Voices of Marrakesh. Trans. J. A. Underwood. Continuum, 1978.
Espmark, Kjell. The Nobel Prize in Literature: A Stody of the Criteria behind the Choices Boston: G. K. Hall & Co., 1986
Grass, Günter. Cat & Mouse & Other Writings. Ed. A. Leslie Willson. The German Library, Vol. 93. Continuum, 1994. ISBN 0826407331 paper
Hamsun, Knut. Growth of the Soil. Vintage, 1972. ISBN 0394717813 paper
Hamsun, Knut. Hunger. Trans. Sverre Lyngstad. Viking Penguin, 1998; or trans. Robert Bly. NY: Noonday Press, 1998. BIOPIC: Hamsum (1997) Director: Jan Troell (Amazon has DVD for sale) 156 min. In Danish, German, Norwegian and Swedish with English subtitles. HUNGER -- two films available through Fandor/Amazon (2010 and 1966)
Hauptmann, Gerhart. Lineman Thiel & Other Stories. Angel Books, 1990.
Lagerlof, Selma. Gosta Berling's Saga. Iowa City: Penfield Press,1997. FILM: Gösta Berling's Saga (1924). Director: Mauritz Stiller. AKA: "Atonement of Gosta Berling," "The Saga of Gosta Berling." 93 min. Silent with music score. B&Whttp://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2d39v9 ** Greta Garbo's early starring role!!!
Laxness, Halldor Kiljan. The Atom Station. Second Chance Press, 1982.
---. Independent People: An Epic. Trans. J. A. Thompson. Vintage Books, 1997.
Mann, Thomas. Tonio Kröger. Waveland Press, 1992.
Mommsen, Theodor. History of Rome under the Emperors. Routledge, 1999.
Müller, Herta. Traveling on One Leg. Trans. Valentina Glajar and André Lefevere. Evanston, IL: Northwestern UP, 1998 (available online at
Sachs, Nelly. O the Chimneys: Selected Poems, Including the Verse Play, Eli. Trans. Michael Hamburger. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1967.
Three Pre-Surrealist Plays . Maeterlinck, Maurice. Jarry, Alfred. Apollinaire, Guillaume (1880 - 1918 - ). Trans. Maya Slater. Oxford UP, 1997.
Undset, Sigrid. The Master of Hestviken. Random House, 1994.