Dr. Kirsten Hertel

Anglistisches Seminar/Department of English
Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
Kettengasse 12, Room 320
69117 Heidelberg
Germany

+49 (6221) 542831
Kirsten.Hertel@as.uni-heidelberg.de

Sprechstunde: No office hour in the first two weeks of September. My next regular office hour is on Thursday, Sept. 17th from 10-11.

• Introduction to Shakespeare's Comedies
  Proseminar I Literaturwissenschaft
  
  A Midsummer Night's Dream and As You Like It are counted among Shakespeare's 'early' or 'romantic' comedies. Both plays focus on different aspects of the ideal of romantic love against a background of moral and social codes and constraints, and in both plays, there is no clear-cut line between the comic and the tragic. 
  We will start the semester off by looking at the historical and theatrical context of Shakespearean drama before doing a close reading of each play. This will also include aspects like plot, dramatic structure, themes, character conception, language and style.
• Spy novel, political satire or city novel? Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent
  Proseminar II Literaturwissenschaft
  
  Joseph Conrad's novel The Secret Agent was published in 1907, but its plot takes us into the London of 1886, into a dark world of political corruption, espionage and terrorism. 
  After Conrad's novels and tales of seafaring, we find ourselves in the shabby Soho home of Alfred Verloc, who -- unknown to his wife -- leads a double life as shopkeeper and secret agent provocateur for the embassy of a foreign country. 
  As the novel is notable for its narrative technique and themes of espionage and political satire, as well as Conrad's portrayal of London, this class will focus on all of these aspects over the course of the semester.
• Drama of the Irish Renaissance: Yeats, Synge and O'Casey
  Proseminar II Literaturwissenschaft
  
  In the course of this seminar, we shall be looking at four plays which became important in connection with the movement of the 'Irish Renaissance' in the first part of the last century. After the Abbey Theatre in Dublin had opened in 1904, it soon became the centre of this resurgence of Irish nationalism and culture. The three dramatists chosen for discussion were closely linked to the Abbey Theatre and interested in addressing, each in his own way, the question of an Irish national identity in their respective plays. 
  We will analyse these plays against the background of their historical, political, and cultural context. We will also look into how they were received by contemporary audiences, and discuss their potential significance for an Irish identity.
• Ernest Hemingway: First 49 Stories
  Proseminar I Literaturwissenschaft
  
  For most people the name Ernest Hemingway is inextricably connected to the notions of bullfighting, drinking, big-game hunting, and manliness. If most of these concepts can indeed be found in some way or another in his broad range of fiction, there is -- almost simultaneously as it seems -- a much quieter note to be detected in his writing, too: one of emotional tension, of subtlety and sensitivity concerning the question of what it means to be human.
  Intended as an advanced introduction to the analysis of fiction, this course will deal with the early short stories of Ernest Hemingway. We shall start with the semi-autobiographical stories of initiation, the so-called 'Nick-Adams-Stories', and carry on with some of his most popular stories of the 1930s. In a close reading of the texts the course will focus on the question of Hemingway's favoured topics, the use of language and his revolutionary minimalistic prose style, the style of omission. 
  
  *Exam Type: oral presentation and term paper
• The Canonical Big Six of English Romantic Poetry
  Proseminar II Literaturwissenschaft
  
  This course is designed to provide an overview of the literary period known as English Romanticism. In the course of the semester, we will be looking at the work of the canonical 'Big Six', who shaped this period, starting with the representatives of the older generation: William Blake, S.T. Coleridge and William Wordsworth. The chronology will then lead us on to the younger generation including John Keats, P.B. Shelley, and Lord Byron. 
  Aspects of the writers' biographies as well as the poetological, historical, philosophical, and socio-historical context of the time will complement the close reading of the respective poems. 
  
  *Exam Type: oral presentation and in-class exam

HERTEL, K. "Dancing With Strangers". A short story. Winner of the autumn writing competition 2023, launched by Hanif Kureishi on Substack: AUTUMN WRITING COMPETITIONS - WINNERS! by Hanif Kureishi

HERTEL, K. Lost Worlds. A dramatic monologue. Published by Litter Magazine, vol. 1, June 2023.

HERTEL, K. The Warrior Queen & Lost Worlds, two one-act plays. Performed in October 2021 by the Schauspielgruppe des Anglistischen Seminars at Hot Shorts Fighting Lockdown Blues. Barockgarten, Anglistisches Seminar, Heidelberg.

HERTEL, K. The Last Tape. A one-act play. Performed in June/July 2016 by the Schauspielgruppe des Anglistischen Seminars at the UNESCO Creative Cities Short Play Festival 2016. Theater im Romanischen Keller, Heidelberg.

WOHL, Eugen. "Interview with Dr. Kirsten Hertel, Lecturer in English literature, Playwright, Director and Producer of the Hot Shorts - Short Play Festival from Heidelberg, Germany". STUDIA UBB DRAMATICA, LXII, 1, 2017, p. 165 - 173.

HERTEL, K. & Amanda Emanuel SMITH. Campus Rose. A campus play. Performed in May 2014 by the Schauspielgruppe des Anglistischen Seminars, Theater im Romanischen Keller, Heidelberg.

HERTEL, K. Frankenstein Lives! A Dramatic Dialogue in One Act. Performed in June/July 2011 by the Schauspielgruppe des Anglistischen Seminars at Hot Shorts - Short Play Festival 2011. Theater im Romanischen Keller, Heidelberg.