Hi there! My name is Heiko Zimmermann. I'm a lecturer in English literature and culture.
The things I'm currently doing: teaching English Literature and Culture at the University of Education Ludwigsburg, writing both scholarly papers and articles for magazines, talking at conferences, doing web and print design, discussing contemporary literature on stage, playing the guitar, growing veggies and flowers in my allotment.
Things I did in the past: writing a PhD thesis about the reconfigurations of authors and readers in digital literature, teaching literature at the Universities of Trier, Bayreuth and Sivas, and Trinity College Dublin, studying a teachers' course of Physics and English, working with mentally disabled people, writing in a creative writing group in Leeds/UK, working with exchange students, playing volleyball, coding and working as a swapper in the C64 demo scene, selling my first computer game to a publishing house when I was sixteen, living in a lovely flat with a tiled stove for seven years, starring in a GCSE listening comprehension test... (to be continued)
You can contact me via email. If you are a student of mine, rather come to my office hours. Sometimes I offer sweets and cookies.
For my students at PH Ludwigsburg, the Universities of Trier, Bayreuth and Trinity College Dublin, I have collected some materials here.
Some miscellaneous bits:
This is a list of my lectures and seminars with links to even more details about them:
SS 2019
- SS 2019 / University of Education Ludwigsburg:
Electronic Literature (Theory and Practice)
- SS 2019 / University of Education Ludwigsburg:
British and Irish Poetry after the Second World War
- SS 2019 / University of Education Ludwigsburg:
Literary Studies I / Introduction to Literature
- SS 2019 / University of Education Ludwigsburg:
Queer Brits in 20th Century Berlin: Urban Exile and Political Upheaval (MA course)
- SS 2019 / University of Education Ludwigsburg:
Short Stories of Modernism
- SS 2019 / University of Education Ludwigsburg:
The English Novel from the 17th to the 19th Century: From Aphra Behn to George Eliot (MA course)
WS 2018/19
- WS 2018/19 / University of Education Ludwigsburg:
British and Irish Poetry after the Second World War
- WS 2018/19 / University of Education Ludwigsburg:
British and Irish Songs You Should Know
- WS 2018/19 / University of Education Ludwigsburg:
Queer Ecologies (MA course)
- WS 2018/19 / University of Education Ludwigsburg:
Short Stories of Modernism
- WS 2018/19 / University of Education Ludwigsburg:
Thatcherism
- WS 2018/19 / University of Education Ludwigsburg:
Literary Studies I / Introduction to Literature
SS 2018
- SS 2018 / University of Education Ludwigsburg:
Literary Studies I / Introduction to Literature
- SS 2018 / University of Education Ludwigsburg:
Cultural Studies II+: The North
- SS 2018 / University of Education Ludwigsburg:
Literary Studies II+: The English Novel from the 17th to the 19th C.
WS 2017/18
- WS 2017/18 / University of Trier:
LIT501 Nature & Culture in E. M. Forster
- WS 2017/18 / University of Trier:
LIT701/ELM502 Critical Theory and Queer Writings
- WS 2017/18 / University of Education Ludwigsburg:
Literary Studies I / Introduction to Literature
- WS 2017/18 / University of Education Ludwigsburg:
Literary Studies III: E. M. Forster
- WS 2017/18 / University of Education Ludwigsburg:
Cultural Studies III - American Cyberculture:
History, Theory, Literature and Media
- WS 2017/18 / University of Education Ludwigsburg:
Language Skills III
SS 2017
- SS 2017 / University of Trier:
Lecture LIT402/ELM302 LIT 402V Approaches to Contemporary British Literature and Media
- SS 2017 / University of Education Ludwigsburg:
Cultural Studies I / Introduction to the Culture and Civilization of the English-Speaking World
- SS 2017 / University of Education Ludwigsburg:
Literary Studies I / Introduction to Literature
- SS 2017 / University of Education Ludwigsburg:
Literary Studies II: Short Stories of Modernism
WS 2016/17
- WS 2016/2017 / University of Trier:
LIT 701 / ELM 602 The North
SS 2016
- SS 2016 / University of Trier:
Lecture LIT402/ELM302 LIT 402V Approaches to Contemporary British Literature and Media
- SS 2016 / University of Trier:
LIT 401 Cyberculture in Contemporary American Cinema and Literature
WS 2015/16
- wS 2015/2016 / University of Trier:
LIT 301 17th Century English Verse: The Metaphysical Poets and Their Contemporaries
SS 2015
- SS 2015 / University of Trier:
Lecture 402 Aspects of Late Victorian and Modernist British Literature
- SS 2015 / University of Trier:
801 The Harlem Renaissance (O'Neill, Larsen, Hurston, Baldwin = 28,40 EUR incl. p&p)
WS 2014/2015
- WS 2014/2015 / University of Trier:
301 The English Novel from the 17th to the 19th Century: From Aphra Behn to George Eliot
(recommended editions (at Amazon.de): Behn, Richardson, Brown, Eliot, Swift, Braddon, Austen)
- SS 2014/2015 / University of Trier:
701 Spoken Word, Digital Literature and Creative Writing: Fresh Voices from Britain and Ireland
SS 2014
- SS 2014 / University of Trier:
Lecture 402 Aspects of Late Victorian and Modernist British Literature
- SS 2014 / University of Trier:
801 Queer Ecologies
WS 2013/2014
- WS 2013/2014 / University of Trier:
Lecture 101 Introduction to Literary Studies 1
- WS 2013/2014 / University of Trier:
301 Constructions of Gender in Contemporary British Media Texts
- WS 2013/2014 / Trinity College Dublin:
Lecture Forms of Digital Literature: From Combinatoric/Kinetic Poetry to Blog Fiction (guest lecture in the core module "Theory and Practice of Digital Humanities" of the MPhil in Digital Humanities and Culture)
- WS 2013/2014 / Trinity College Dublin:
Lecture Reconfigurations of Author and Readership in Digital Literature (guest lecture in the core module "Theory and Practice of Digital Humanities" of the MPhil in Digital Humanities and Culture)
- WS 2013/2014 / Trinity College Dublin:
Barthes' Death of the Author and Foucault's Author Function: Theory and Aesthetic Implications (four-hour workshop at the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute)
- WS 2013/2014 / Trinity College Dublin:
Collaborative Digital Writing: A Million Penguins and the War of the Collaborators - A Reconstruction and Discussion of Focal, Para and Social Texts (four-hour workshop at the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute)
SS 2013
- SS 2013 / University of Trier:
Lecture 402 Approaches to Contemporary British Literature and Media
- SS 2013 / University of Trier:
801 E. M. Forster
WS 2012/2013
- WS 2012/2013 / University of Trier:
Lecture 101 Introduction to Literary Studies 1
(recommended editions (at Amazon.de): Klarer, Seeber, Abbott,
Pfister,
Shakespeare)
- WS 2012/2013 / University of Trier:
301 British and Irish Poetry after the Second World War
- WS 2012/2013 / University of Trier:
701 Theories of Authorship
(recommended editions (at Amazon.de): Burke, Jannidis)
SS 2012
- SS 2012 / University of Trier:
Lecture Approaches to Contemporary British Literature and Media
- SS 2012 / University of Trier:
Cybertexts: American Cyberculture and Literary Theory (my editions)
WS 2011/2012
- WS 2011/2012 / University of Trier:
Lecture Introduction to Literary Studies 1
(recommended editions (at Amazon.de): Klarer, Seeber, Abbott,
Pfister)
- WS 2011/2012 / University of Trier:
Victorian Literature: From the Sensation Novel to the Contemporary Pastiche
(recommended editions (32,19 € at Amazon.de): Braddon, Byatt, Eliot, Sweet, Wilde)
SS 2011
- SS 2011 / University of Trier:
Cybertexts: American Cyberculture and Literary Theory (my editions)
WS 2010/2011
- WS 2010/2011 / University of Trier:
Queer Brits in 20th Century Berlin: Urban Exile and Political Upheaval
- WS 2010/2011 / University of Trier:
British and Irish Poetry after the Second World War
SS 2010
- SS 2010 / University of Trier:
Victorian Fiction: From the Sensation Novel to the Scientific Romance (my editions: Kipling; Braddon; Sweet)
- SS 2010 / University of Trier / German Studies:
Roland Barthes, "Der Tod des Autors" (guest lectured seminar session)
WS 2009/2010
- WS 2009/2010 / University of Trier:
Constructions of Gender in Contemporary British Film
- WS 2009/2010 / University of Trier:
Short Stories of Modernism
SS 2009
- SS 2009 / University of Trier:
PS Cybertexts: A Practical Course on the Theory of Literature on the Computer
- SS 2009 / University of Trier:
PS Victorian Literature and Culture
Enrolment for Presentations
WS 2008 / 2009
SS 2008
WS 2007 / 2008
SS 2007
1999 - 2008
- 2001/2002 / University of Leeds: Oral Skills
- 1999 - 2012: freelance teacher
SS 2007: British Modernist Literature - Course Material
Seminar Reader
Number 8 (5th July 2007)
1.) Preparation for penultimate seminar (10th July): Please, read the poems in the 5th part of the seminar reader. What might the image of the gyre signify? What is the Second Coming in Christian belief?
2.) Presentations: Susanne (E.) will tell us about Ireland at the beginning of the 20th century, and Susanne (O.) will talk about the Celtic Revival.
Number 7 (24th June 2007)
Due to illness, the seminar of 26th June has to be cancelled. I'm sorry about this. Let's see if we can find a time for an extra session. This week's text, topics and presentations will be postponed one week.
Number 6 (21th June 2007)
1.) Preparation for next seminar (26th June): Please read Virginia Woolf's Between the Acts. Is there anything special in her use of images and symbols and the way the narrator comments on the story?
2.) Presentations: Susanne will introduce the Bloomsbury group to us, and Raffaela will talk about another of Woolf's novels, focussing on some techniques of "High Modernism".
Number 5 (14th June 2007)
1.) Preparation for next seminar (19th June): Please read Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House and Wilfred Owen's "Strange Meeting". What is the poem about? Who is the voice?
2.) Anarchism and Owen: Part 4 of the reader.
3.) Presentation: Sandra will tell us about Great Britain in WWI.
Number 4 (24th May 2007)
1.) Preparation for next seminar (5th June): Please read Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent. Make a list of the events in the novel and write down the most important features of the main characters. Think about the various motivations of the 'terrorists'.
2.) Essay Questions: Please find the questions here. There are also some additional remarks on formal aspects and about writing essays in general. In case you don't like these essay questions, please, feel free to choose another topic (the set texts and the topics mentioned in the schedule). If you are unsure, talk to me.
3.) Presentations: Anja and Nicole will tell us about one of the first international terror attacks, the Greenwich Observatory Bomb of 1894.
Number 3 (17th May 2007)
1.) Preparation for next seminar: Please read Henry James' The Turn of the Screw. Is there anything special about the narrative situation? If you haven't bought the text, you can also find it in the Semesterapparat.
2.) Presentations: Hannah and Andrew will tell us about Sigmund Freud and Carl G. Jung.
Number 2 (10th May 2007)
1.) Preparation for next seminar: Please read E. M. Forster's A Room With a View. Try to focus on the narrative situation and think about the Raymond William's list. Is there anything "Modern(ist)" in this novel?
2.) Presentations: Emily will tell us about E. M. Forster, the man who (in his slightly shop-soiled but very usable Aspects of the Novel) introduced concepts like "flat" and "round" character to literary theory.
First Newsletter (26th April 2007)
1.) Literature: There is a Semesterapparat at the humanities library. It has the number 202. There, you can find: E. M. Forster's A Room With a View, Henry James' The Turn of the Screw. As soon as they are back in the library, you will also find Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent as well as Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House and Virginia Woolf's Between the Acts there. You can find the current status of shelf 202 here.
2.) Seminar Reader: In the second part of the reader--the first being the three poems and the seminar schedule, I gave you last Tuesday--, you will find excerpts from Ezra Pound and Virginia Woolf as well as E. M. Forster's "The Machine Stops". Password: see your first email.
4.) Preparation for next seminar: Please read the excerpts from Ezra Pound's "A Retrospect", Virginia Woolf's "Modern Fiction" plus E. M. Forster's "The Machine Stops". When reading "A Retrospect," try to relate Pound's ideas with T. S. Eliot's poem we read last time.
5.) Presentations: Şemsettin and Cem will talk about all kinds of "-isms" next time (Expressionism, Dadaism, Futurism, Symbolism, Imagism, Vorticism). If you have some spare time, try to have a look at the respective Wikipedia entries or reactivate the knowledge you have about these things from your studies, school, ...
Tuesdays 8.30 a.m. - 10 a.m. (s.t.), Raum S91 (GW1)
When was Modernism, and what was it? In the realm of British literature, was it only the Bloomsbury group? These are just three of the questions we are going to answer in this seminar. As E. M. Forster often insisted on starting from the beginning, we will have a closer look at the onset of British Modernist literature by reading Forster, Henry James and Joseph Conrad (admitting that the latter two were not as British as one would have thought). Hopefully there will be enough time to see how all the new things kept on developing in Virginia Woolf, George Bernard Shaw (dramatic perspective), W. B. Yeats (Irish perspective) and T. S. Eliot (avant-garde perspective).
Books to purchase:
- Henry James, The Turn of the Screw (e.g. Oxford UP, 1998 (8 EUR)).
- Joseph Conrad, The Secret Agent (e.g. Dover Thrift, 2001 (4 EUR)).
- George Bernard Shaw, Heartbreak House (e.g. Penguin, 2001 (9 EUR)).
- Virginia Woolf, Between the Acts (e.g. Penguin Modern Classics, 2000 (10 EUR)).
Other texts will be available online or in a course reader.
As this seminar is a proseminar, it is introductory in character, and you don't have to know too many things beforehand. Therefore, I can only recommend the following standard texts as a preparation: Mario Klarer, Einführung in die Anglistisch-Amerikanistische Literaturwissenschaft and Hans Ulrich Seeber, Englische Literaturgeschichte.
Further material in due course.
Supervised Theses (Selection):
- Gender in 21st Century Dystopian Texts, BEd 2019.
- Darstellung von Sexualität und Geschlecht in aktuellen Staffeln der BBC-Serie Doctor Who, BEd 2019.
- The Development of the Representation of Violence in Graphic Novels, BA 2018.
- Robotic Dystopias in Popular Media: "And It Absolutely Will not Stop, ever, until You Are Dead", BA 2018.
- The Literary Genre of Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe: Can Robinson Crusoe Be Categorized as a Spiritual Autobiography?, BA 2017.
- Gone with the Wind: Romanticizing the "Old South" or a Classical Historical Novel?, BA 2017.
- Satire in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, BA 2017.
- Film Reviews and Book Adaptations: The Sociological Perception of Adaptations, BA 2017.
- How to Replace Reality: A Comparative Analysis of Immersion in Narrative Literature and Video Games, BEd 2016.
- From Childhood to Womanhood: From The Bluest Eye to Sula or Being a Black Girl and Becoming a Woman in a Racist Society, BA 2016.
- Gender and Identity in Tabletop Fantasy Role-Playing Games, BA 2015.
- The Walking Dead: Development of Literary Motifs and Social Criticism, BEd 2015.
- Modern Copyright Laws in Digital Art: Help or Hindrance – An Analysis, BA 2015.
- Robin Hood and Edward “Ned” Kelly: Changes of National Heroes over Time, BA 2015.
- Digital Versus Traditional Literature: The End of Books?, BA 2014.
- The Representation of Female Characters in Japanese and American Video Games: Is the Social Perception of Women in Real Life Actually Reflected in the Virtual World?, BA 2014.
- Screen Scholars and Sceptics: Science Fiction Films, Philosophy, and Immersion, BA 2013.
- Late Victorian Prose and Narrative, BA 2013.
- Machines in H. G. Wells, BA 2013.
- Dementia in Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, 2012.
- Science Fiction, Philosophy and Immersion, 2012.
- Dystopia and Reality: Nineteen Eighty-Four and Orwellian Elements in US Politics and Society, 2012.
- Victorian Dualisms: The Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, BA 2012.
- Strategies of Repression in the Dystopian Novels Brave New World and The Hand Maid’s Tale, BA 2012.
- E. M. Forster’s The Longest Journey: An Autobiographical Writing, BA 2012.
- Representations of the Fourth Dimension in Victorian Literature, BA 2011.
- Harry Potter: Development in Books and Films, BA 2011.
This list is supposed to give you an idea of the scope of possible topics. However, it is not limited to it. I invite students to approach me with concrete suggestions in the fields of Modernism, late Victorian literature, contemporary British and Irish literature, anglophone literatures of Commonwealth nations, gender studies, queer studies, E. M. Forster, critical theory, creative writing, electronic literature, and the philosophy of literature. Places are limited, however.
