Patricia Highsmith (1921-1995) and the Aesthetics of the Cold War
TR 12-1:15 PM C101 Sakamaki
Every once in a while, a writer comes along who elevates a genre to a new level, and by that elevation, sometimes says something about the age we live in more profoundly than any history book ever could. Patricia Highsmith is such a writer, hailed for her terse psychological thrillers. The murderer often not only gets away, but continues to fulfill their life’s pursuits and pleasures guiltlessly. Her works take place in the cold war period she lived through, in settings that range from the puritanical suburbs of America to the cultural and artistic towns and cities of Europe. Highsmith tells stories gone wrong in a way that seems so right, crafts riveting suspense even when nothing really happens. This course introduces students to Highsmith’s works alongside selections from some key theorists of modern experience, such as Freud and Marx. We will use Highsmith’s works to explore the alternating rhythms of anomie and violence that characterized the cold war conundrum of war without war; likewise we will draw on this historical context to try to make sense of her writings.
2021 was Highsmith’s centenary year which saw an explosion of interest in her writings and multifaceted personality—her forays into comics, her complicated lesbian relationships, her activism for Palestine. But the Highsmith revival is an ongoing process. In the last two decades, a number of her books have been adapted for films, but long before this Alfred Hitchcock made the famous adaptation of Strangers on a Train (1950). We will begin our class with this classic.
Course Requirements include attendance and participation (20), one team-led oral presentation (20), weekly critical responses (20), an abstract proposal (20), and a final essay (20)
Key Texts/Films
- Strangers on a Train (1950)
- Strangers on a Train (Hitchcock) (1951)
- The Price of Salt (1952)
- The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955)
- The Talented Mr. Ripley (Minghella) (1999)
- Those who Walk Away (1967)
- Little Tales of Misogyny (1975)
- People Who Knock on the Door (1983)