272 Introduction to literature: Culture and Literature / The Human and Divine
Stories, poetry, and visual art have their origins in humanity’s relationship with the sacred or “mythic,” a belief that there is an intelligence or consciousness or presence in the world larger than ourselves. Even in modern art and literature, which often appear to be entirely secular, we are fascinated by the mythic, spiritual, and unknown. All of these are the “divine” or “otherness” of today. This is not a course in religion, but rather in the surprising way that the strange and miraculous enter everyday lives, if we’re prepared to see them.
For example, we’ll study the emotional transformation of characters interacting with gods and heroes in an episode in the Iliad by reading book 24, then a short novel (Ransom by David Malouf) that re-imagines the episode’s depiction of divine compassion, then a play by Euripides (Hecuba) about the sacrifice of a young girl to the ghost of the hero we met in the Iliad and in Ransom.
We’ll watch a magical/mythical feature film, Labryrinth by Guillermo del Toro, about a young girl who makes us wonder about the realms in which evil forces live, and read the film script. We’ll read a play by Arthur Miller, Incident at Vichy,, about the way people react in the face of certain death, and read the script.
And we’ll examine many more pieces of literary art.
Note: This is a reading and discussion class for students who are interested in asking why good stories are important, as much to scientists, doctors, and lawyers as to English majors. We’ll look at how the creative mind works (we all have one) and how to pay attention to everything around us and inside of us.
Students will be assigned weekly writing tasks and four papers. Attendance and active participation are mandatory.