Distant Reading the Canon

The seminar will explore well-known texts from a different perspective reading them from a
‘distance’ with a focus on mobility, race, and gender.

Starting with an overview of the literary canon, we discuss what makes a canon by revisiting
key literary periods and texts but include other works of cultural production
as well, such as film, music, and theatre. During the course, we collectively
select a few canonical texts to practice methods of analysis that combine
literary and cultural studies, always keeping the questions in mind: What can
representations of mobility tell us about the construction of race and gender?
And why would a particular representation become canonical?

Methods like close reading, computational analysis, or psychogeographic mapping are
combined with perspectives from the new mobilities paradigm, intersectionality,
feminist theory, critical race studies and postcolonialism.

The course is ideal for students that wish to refresh their knowledge on canon formation and
cultural studies in combination with exploring different analytical methods,
some of which might even inspire a thesis paper.