This class will focus on the relationship between philosophy and literature from European antiquity through the 20^th century. It will look historically at the competition between philosophers and poets in the establishment of authoritative discourse in the Greek polis. It will also examine, in this context, the relationship between oral tradition and the development of literacy, to assess the impact of communication technology on the development of European thought. This theme will return in the discussion of contemporary literature and philosophy as they are affected by electronic media. Major theories of literature will be considered, as well as a series of texts in classical, modern and contemporary criticism. Selected texts in classical, modern and postcolonial literature will be paired with the theoretical texts. All the while the original tension between "literature" and "theory" or "philosophy," arising from the Greeks, will be examined. Women's and multicultural perspectives will play key roles in our discussion. Parallels between literature and the other arts will be considered as well. The class will culminate in a discussion of texts, technology and the relationships among critical theory, literature and the arts in the context of digital media.
 

This class fulfills the Gordon Rule writing requirement of 6,000 words.
 

Requirements:

1) A series of three reading responses, written outside of class, each 1,000 words in length, each 15% of final grade, totaling 45%

2) Four in-class responses, each at least 250 words in length, each 5% of final grade, totaling 20%

3) A final essay: 20%

4) A presentation project, including a 500 word summary: 15%.
 

In-class responses will be graded holistically and out of class writing will be graded rigorously for composition and content.
 

Attendance and class participation are expected.
 

OFFICE and office hours: TBA

PHI 3882H

Required Texts:

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart.
Eco, Umberto, Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages
Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. Norton Critical Edition
Landow, George, Hypertext: the Convergence of Contemporary Critical Theory and Technology
McLuhan, Marshall and Quentin Fiore, The Medium is the Massage
Ross, Stephen David, ed. Art and Its Significance.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. The original 1818 text. Ed. Kathleen Scherf.
Sophocles. Oedipus Tyrannus. Norton Critical Edition.

Week of

1 Course introduction: "literature" and "philosophy" in the Greek polis;
the impact of the alphabet and literacy on the Greek oral tradition.

2 Critical theory in antiquity: Plato: from Republic II, III, X, in Ross
Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus

3 Plato, Ion, from Symposium, in Ross, Sophocles continued
Drama and Dialogue: poetry and philosophy in conflict
Response Due. Discussion

4 Aristotle, from Poetics and Nichomachean Ethics, in Ross; Critical perspectives on Sophocles' Oedipus, selected essays in Norton Critical Edition

5 Critical Perspectives on Sophocles Oedipus, selected essays in Norton Critical Edition: read Thucydides, Freud, Aristotle, Jebb, Lesky, Nietzsche, Cohen, Kitto, Dodds. Response Due. Discussion.

6 Medieval Interlude: Eco, Excerpts from Dante and Aquinas, allegory in poetry and
theory

7 Hume, "Of the Standard of Taste"; Kant, from Critique of Judgment, in Ross; Begin Shelley's Frankenstein.

8 Shelley's Frankenstein, continued; Feminist perspectives: "The Education of Mary Shelley," including Appendix A, in Shelley. Hume and Kant, continued.

9 Complete Frankenstein. Feminist perspectives: Göttner-Abendroth, "Nine Principles of a Matriarchal Aesthetic," in Ross; Scientism and Romanticism: "The Education of Victor Frankenstein," including Appendix B, and "The Education of the Monster," including Appendix C, in Shelley.

10 Feminist and multicultural perspectives: Irigaray, "Any Theory of the 'Subject' Has Been Appropriated by the Masculine" ; Owens, "The Discourse of Others"; Minh-ha, "Woman, Native, Other," in Ross.

11 Response Due. Discussion. Nietzsche, from Birth of Tragedy, "Attempt at Self-Criticism," in Ross; Dewey, "Art as Experience"; Heidegger, "The Origin of the Work of Art," in Ross. Begin Kafka, The Metamorphosis.

12 Complete Kafka's Metamorphosis. Freud, "The Relation of the Poet to Day-Dreaming"; Jung "Psychology and Literature" in Ross.
Critical perspectives on Kafka's Metamorphosis, selected essays in Kafka, Norton Critical Edition: read Kafka, letters, diaries, conversations, pp. 64-75; essays by Corngold, Sweeney, Santer. Projects and Presentations

13 Response Due. Achebe, Things Fall Apart. Discussion. Interview with Chinua Achebe (video, with Bill Moyers); Bakhtin, "Discourse in the Novel"; Mudimbe, "The Invention of Africa"; Minh-ha's "Woman, Native, Other," revisited, in Ross, Projects and Presentations

14 Philosophy, literature, and the arts: perspectives in culture and communication: Foucault, from The Order of Things; Benjamin "The Work of Art in the Age of its Technical Reproducibility," in Ross. McLuhan, The Medium is the MassageProjects and presentations

15 Texts and technology: critical theory and literature in digital media:
Landow, Hypertext; a visit to a Things Fall Apart web site http://www.zbths.k12.il.us/projects/Achebe/ACHEBE2.HTML ,
Nigeria.Com www.nigeria.net , the Perseus Project http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/ and Project Muse http://www.zbths.k12.il.us/projects/Achebe/ACHEBE2.HTML

16 Final Essays Due. Projects and presentations.