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Department of Cultural Studies
AMERICAN STUDIES

California Dreaming: Hollywood in the American Literary Imaginary

Course Information

Nr. Name Type Time Room Lecturer
154642 California Dreaming: Hollywood in the American Literary Imaginary 2 PS Mo 10:15 - 11:45 R. 0.420 Helm

The most enduring myth to come out of the Hollywood Dream Factory is the one it sells about itself: anyone can move out to the coast and make it a big movie star. By contrast, Nathanael West’s modernist novel The Day of the Locust (1939) peels back the layers of glamour and fame to reveal a cesspool of greed, corruption, and exploitation. West exchanges sunny Hollywood skies for an apocalyptic vision of a city on fire. From the silent film era, through the Golden Age of Hollywood, and into the #MeToo movement, this course explores how literature responds to, represents, and critiques Hollywood’s place within the American cultural imaginary. Through a mélange of genres – like new journalism, noir fiction, and the postmodern novel – we will delve into topics as varied as celebrity culture, race, sexuality, and globalism.

Matthew Helm is a visiting instructor from the University of Iowa.

Modules

Lehramtsstudiengänge

LABG G HRG/HRSGe GyGe/BK SP
2009 602 503 503  
2016   503 503  

Angewandte Sprachwissenschaften &
Angewandte Literatur-/Kulturwissenschaften:

PO B.A.ALK B.A.AS M.A.ALK M.A.AS
PO ab WS 16/17 Kern: 1c, 2abc, 3ab
Komp: 1b, 2c
Kern: 
Komp: 2a
   
PO ab WS 21/22 Kern: 1b, 2abc, 3ab
Komp: 1b, 2c
Kern: 
Komp: 2a