This seminar will be held in English. It takes as its springboard Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871). The intermedial character of the Alice books and their manifold cross-cultural and cross-medial adaptations make them a particularly telling case study for exploring questions and topics of an intermedial nature. We will discuss adaptation, storytelling, and word and image relations in the Alice books and then look at various retellings of her story in different medial contexts.
Class time will be divided between the discussion of critical texts and primary works, group work on specific questions, and viewing two films. We will begin with a theoretical background to intermediality and storytelling in order to understand what is meant by “Intermedial Storytelling”, and then study the literary aspects and cultural context of Carroll’s Alice books. We will also discuss the illustrations in relation to the text. Grounded in this thorough study of Alice, we will turn our focus to retellings of Alice in comics, manga, graphic novels, children’s books, film, and other media. We will wind up the semester by discussing Alice as a cultural icon, opening up our inquiry to questions such as: What makes a cultural icon? How does intermediality play a role in genre and cultural transfer? Why is Alice so prevalent in the twenty-first century? What other literary works have undergone such retellings?
Our primary reading will be The Annotated Alice. The Definitive Edition. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, edited by Martin Gardner (Penguin, 2000). Secondary readings will be provided by the instructor. Regular attendance is encouraged, and students should come to class prepared to actively discuss the reading material for the week and have read both primary texts by week 4. Short written assignments will be given, and students will be required to prepare a short presentation on one aspect of the Alice books and to participate in a group report on Alice in popular culture. Discussion will be in English, and term papers may be written in English or in German.
Class time will be divided between the discussion of critical texts and primary works, group work on specific questions, and viewing two films. We will begin with a theoretical background to intermediality and storytelling in order to understand what is meant by “Intermedial Storytelling”, and then study the literary aspects and cultural context of Carroll’s Alice books. We will also discuss the illustrations in relation to the text. Grounded in this thorough study of Alice, we will turn our focus to retellings of Alice in comics, manga, graphic novels, children’s books, film, and other media. We will wind up the semester by discussing Alice as a cultural icon, opening up our inquiry to questions such as: What makes a cultural icon? How does intermediality play a role in genre and cultural transfer? Why is Alice so prevalent in the twenty-first century? What other literary works have undergone such retellings?
Our primary reading will be The Annotated Alice. The Definitive Edition. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, edited by Martin Gardner (Penguin, 2000). Secondary readings will be provided by the instructor. Regular attendance is encouraged, and students should come to class prepared to actively discuss the reading material for the week and have read both primary texts by week 4. Short written assignments will be given, and students will be required to prepare a short presentation on one aspect of the Alice books and to participate in a group report on Alice in popular culture. Discussion will be in English, and term papers may be written in English or in German.
- Kursleiter/in: Stephanie Glaser
Semester: SoSe 2024