Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, University of Marburg (Angelistik/Amerikanistik), course: Transatlantic Stereotyping - Views from/about Both Sides of the Ocean, 9 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: The first time I took notice of David ...

Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, University of Marburg (Angelistik/Amerikanistik), course: Transatlantic Stereotyping - Views from/about Both Sides of the Ocean, 9 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: The first time I took notice of David Lodge’s novels was in this seminar. While reading the novel Changing Places (1965) I liked his gift of making use of national stereotypes in a witty way that never seemed gross and made me reflect about the characters in spite of their comic effect. Furthermore, I particularly liked Lodge’s way of working historical events into his novels. When I came across the novel Out of the Shelter (1970, 1984) I chose it as a topic for my term paper because I felt it was interesting to observe how a foreign author makes use of stereotypes of my own nationality. The Bildungsroman Out of the Shelter belongs to the early novels written by David Lodge. Lodge, as a professor of Modern English literature since 1976, is a very versatile author. Furthermore, he published works of literary theory, such as Working with Structualism (1981) or novels, e.g., The British Museum is Falling Down (1965) or the satirical two campus novel Changing Places (1965). The novel Out of the Shelter is mainly set in occupied Heidelberg (West Germany) where the protagonist, the 16 years old Briton Timothy Young, visits his sister who works for the US-Army as a civilian secretary. This “international theme” is well suited for examining how the author makes use of national stereotypes and symbolism. But what must be seen as a stereotype in this novel? The Collins dictionary defines a stereotype as “…simplistic generalizations about a group that allows others to categorize them and treat them accordingly…”. For this novel not only the question if the characters are stereotypes is informative, but also if there is made use of stereotypes in the character constellation and if it reflects a nation or society in general. To find out if these are general stereotypes or derive from Timothy’s subjective impression, I want to examine in how far they are in conformity with the standpoint of temporary social historians. The field of social history has found approval since the 1980’s and the results of its researches are well suited for this paper since they take cultural aspects far more into consideration than traditional historiography. In this term paper I want to focus on American, English and German stereotypes and symbolism, even though others (,e.g., Russian or Polish) are dealt with in the novel, because these 3 are the central ones and can be compared best.