Friederike Lang – författare

Seminar paper from the year 2018 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, University of Cologne (Englisches Seminar), course: British and Irish Modernist Literature, language: English, abstract: The aim of this paper is to analyse how and why Evelyn Waugh as a late modernist writer voiced social criticism in his satire Decline and Fall. To do so, I will firstly demonstrate Evelyn Waugh's representativeness for the literary genres of modernism and satire. Furthermore, I will examine exemplarily Waugh's attacks on the education system and the penal system, both represented in the novel by Scone College, Llanabba Castle, Blackstone Gaol and Egdon Heath Prison. I do so based on the assumption that for Waugh it is in those systems that the flaws and faults of British modern society originated. In the early 20th century, Britain went through a process of change and became more modern. Industrialisation and its rapidly growing cities led society to shake off Victorian ideals and principles. And the Great War from 1914 to 1918 changed the British people forever. Although it was firstly considered as a great adventure and brought about the empowerment of women, it left the country and its society in a profound crisis and raised endless questions. New ways of coping with reality in this age of uncertainty were needed. The literary genre which today is called modernism dealt with this era particularly through experimenting with literary forms and styles. Late modernism on the other hand was more focused on social criticism and preferably used satire as a means of expression. Evelyn Waugh was a late modernist writer who wrote a number of famous social satires to criticise and to pillory the British society of the 1920s. For him, it was made up of indifferent, overly class conscious people who were incapable of having profound feelings and who placed more importance on status and money than on anything else. Moreover, an overall lack of piety, morals and most importantly boundaries, has led to a self-indulgent, mercenary society in constant decline.

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2020 im Fachbereich Romanistik - Französisch, Note: 1,3, Universität zu Köln (Romanisches Seminar), Veranstaltung: Literatur und Sklaverei: die französische Karibik, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: Die Hausarbeit widmet sich dem kulturtheoretischen Ansatz der Coolitude, der vom mauritischen Schriftsteller und Essayisten Khal Torabully entwickelt wurde. Torabullys Konzept zielt darauf ab, das indische Element in kreolisierten Gesellschaften weltweit hervorzuheben und eine literarische sowie künstlerische Plattform für die Geschichten der Coolies und ihrer Nachfahren zu schaffen. Der Begriff "Coolitude" leitet sich von "Coolie", der Bezeichnung für indische und chinesische Arbeitsmigranten, ab und soll ein neues Verständnis für die Erfahrungen dieser Diaspora schaffen. Die Arbeit beginnt mit einer Darstellung der Geschichte der Kontraktarbeit im 19. Jhd., die im Kontext des Kolonialismus und der Sklaverei eingeführt wurde, um die Plantagenwirtschaft in den Kolonien aufrechtzuerhalten. Sie beschreibt die traumatischen Bedingungen der Überseefahrt und die Ausbeutung der Arbeiter, die Parallelen zu den Erfahrungen afrikanischer Sklaven aufweisen. Anschließend wird Torabullys Lebenslauf und seine Motivation für die Entwicklung der Coolitude dargestellt. Durch die Kombination verschiedener Sprachen und die Fokussierung auf den transkulturellen Dialog sowie die kulturelle Hybridität versucht Torabully, den indischen Arbeitsmigranten und ihren Leiden eine Stimme zu geben und gleichzeitig die kulturelle Vielfalt als Ergebnis kolonialer Migration zu feiern. Das Konzept der Coolitude selbst wird als Versuch Torabullys beschrieben, die indische Arbeitsdiaspora zu ehren und ihre Erfahrungen aus einer positiven Perspektive darzustellen. Die maritime Symbolik, insbesondere das Bild der Koralle, spielt eine zentrale Rolle in seinem Ansatz, da sie die vielschichtigen Identitäten und die Verbindung zum indischen Erbe symbolisiert. Trotz seiner innovativen Herangehensweise werden in der Arbeit auch die Grenzen des Konzepts aufgezeigt. So wird kritisiert, dass Torabullys Fokus auf die indische Diaspora andere Gruppen, wie chinesische Arbeitsmigranten, ausschließt und dadurch eine gewisse Essentialisierung vornimmt. Zudem wird bemängelt, dass der Begriff "Coolitude" selbst eine sprachliche und geographische Begrenzung darstellt, die seine universelle Anwendbarkeit einschränkt.

Seminar paper from the year 2020 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies, grade: 2,0, University of Cologne (Englisches Seminar), course: Theorien und Modelle der Literaturwissenschaft English/North American/Postcolonial Anglophone Literature(s) and culture(s), language: English, abstract: The aim of this paper is to analyze what message F. Scott Fitzgerald as a modernist writer tries to convey to his readership through the employment of the theme of adultery in his 1925 novel The Great Gatsby. To create a basis, I will shortly present literary modernism and adultery as a theme and establish a profound link between them. Furthermore, I will offer a short overview of how marriage, family, and divorce developed in the U.S. over time. Most importantly however, based on the assumption that committing adultery fulfils different functions in the novel, I will present Daisy Buchanan's and Myrtle Wilson's motivations pushing them to do it. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the Western world went through a process of change and became more modern. Industrialization and its rapidly growing cities led society to shake off Victorian ideals and principles. Also, the Great War from 1914 to 1918 changed people forever. Although it was at first considered to be a great adventure and brought about the empowerment of women, it left countries and societies in a profound crisis and raised endless questions. New ways of coping with reality in this age of uncertainty were needed. The literary genre which today is called modernism dealt with this era particularly through experimenting with literary forms and styles. F. Scott Fitzgerald was an American modernist writer of the Lost Generation who produced five novels, four collections of short stories, and over 150 short stories, and dedicated his life to depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age. His accurate and posthumously celebrated representations of the societal corruption of the roaring twenties and the failure of the American Dream, as well as the creation of the flapper in fiction have awarded him a permanent place among the immortals of American literature.