comparative literature 309 • great works of … absurd in some of the most provocative novels,...

ComparativeLiterature309•GreatWorksofModernLiteratureEXISTENTIALISM&THEABSURD:ANONLINESURVEY

Instructor:DragoMomcilovic[Email:momcilov@uwm.edu]Lecture201•OnlineWeb•3credits

Thiscourseexplorestheriseofexistentialistphilosophyandthephilosophiesoftheabsurdinsomeofthemostprovocativenovels,plays,shortstoriesandmassmediafromaroundtheworld.Ourglobalsurveyofexistentialismandtheabsurdwill interrogate the nature of existence and the responsibilities we bear inshaping our lives into something meaningful—particularly in relation to freewill, action, faith, technology, politics, love, and finally, death. Our texts willtentatively include Mozart’s Don Giovanni; The Death of Ivan Ilyich by LeoTolstoy; The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka; Notes from the Underground byFyodor Dostoevsky; Albert Camus’ classic novelThe Stranger;No Exitby Jean-Paul Sartre; Kenneth Branagh’s film version ofHamlet; Taxi Driver by MartinScorsese;Cléofrom5to7byAgnèsVarda;aselectionofEuropeanpaintingsandsculptures;andselectedepisodesoftheAmericanandFrenchTVseriesMadMenand The Churchmen. We will also read selections of philosophical works byFriedrichNietzsche,SørenKierkegaard,MigueldeUnamuno,MartinHeidegger,AlbertCamus,Jean-PaulSartre,SimonedeBeauvoir,andFrantzFanon.