calin mihailescu - the grotesque

7/23/2019 Calin Mihailescu - The Grotesque

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The University of Western Ontario

Department of Modern Languages and Literatureshttp://www.uwo.ca/modlang/

The Grotesque(CLC 2103B)

Lectures: Mondays 1:30-3:30, Wednesdays 1:30-2:30 (room TBA)

Instructor: C

lin Mih

ilescu Teaching Assistant: Christian Ylagan

http://publish.uwo.ca/~cmihails/ Office: AHB rm. 3R18Office: AHB rm. 3R18A Office Hours: M 10:30-12:30

Office hours: W 10:00-1:00 Phone: (dept.) 519 661-3196

Phone: 519 661-2111, x85862 Email:[email protected]

Email:[email protected]

Course Description

The course follows the embodiments of grotesque imagination in literature and the arts

from the antiquity up to now. A loosely defined category, the grotesque names fields of

expression whose limits are humor and horror, as well as the fantastic, the absurd and

the realistic. The grotesque is affective: as it leaves the reader/viewer unsettled, it lingers

for some time to offer little consolation but plenty of shudders, shocking disgust, and an

absurd aftertaste to the point of pain and laughter. Grotesque,William Carlos Williams

said, is the vulnerable, pathetic fantasy we distort in our simultaneous search for love

and property. Grotesque is the mystery we eliminate to create the revolt of simple things,

goods, that desire mystery. Grotesque is what we become when we seclude ourselves in

the suburban community closed to wonder, the mechanical mirage of technological

comfort.
http://www.uwo.ca/modlang/http://www.uwo.ca/modlang/http://publish.uwo.ca/~cmihails/http://publish.uwo.ca/~cmihails/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://publish.uwo.ca/~cmihails/http://www.uwo.ca/modlang/


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Syllabus

1 Jan. Introduction:The G. Word Leonardo, Goya, Francis Bacon

Chris Marker, La Jete

2 Jan. Our G.: Under the sign of Kafka: The Metamorphosis

3 Jan. Kafka, The Metamorphosis, The Hunger Artist

Walter Benjamin, Some Reflections on Kafka

Art: Georg Grosz and other Expressionists

4 Jan. American G.:Flannery OConnor, Good Country People

5 Jan. The Old G.: Apuleius, The Golden Ass

6 Jan. Wolfgang Kayser, The Grotesque in Art and Literature

Art: Antique and medieval grotesqueries

7 Jan. G. Renaissance: Rabelais, from Gargantua and Pantagruel

M.M. Bakhtin, from Rabelais and his World

Art: Renaissance grotesqueries (Bosch, da Vinci, on and on)

8 Jan. 18th-century G.: Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal

9 Feb. 19th-century G. Baudelaire, The Essence of Laughter

Art: Honor Daumier and caricature in the 19thcentury10 Feb. Robert Browning, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came

Edward Lear, from The Complete Nonsense

11 Feb. 19th-c. G. and the Fantastic Nikolai Gogol, The Nose

12 Feb. E.T.A. Hoffmann - The Sandman

13 Feb. E.A. Poe, The Black Cat and The Imp of the Perverse

H.P. Lovecraft, Herbert WestReanimator & The Dunwhich Horror

Kayser, The Grotesque in Art and Literature

Art: Aubrey Beardsley

14 Feb. August Strindberg, The Ghost Sonata

15 Mar. 20

th

-Century Bruno Schulz, The Street of Crocodiles and Cockroaches Rynosuke Akutagawa, fromTales Grotesque and Curious

16 Mar. Louis-Ferdinand Cline, Journey to the End of the Night

17 Mar. Louis-Ferdinand Cline, Journey to the End of the Night

18 Mar. Stalinist and Nazi G.: propaganda, kitsch & death

19 Mar. Communist G.: M. Bulgakov, Master and Margarita

Art & Film: Soviet Socialist Realism

20 Mar. M. Bulgakov, Master and Margarita

21 Mar. M. Bulgakov, Master and Margarita

Art: Komar, Melamid and post-communist Russian humor

22 Mar. American Gothic G.: William Faulkner, A Rose for Emily

23 Mar. Latin-American G.:J.L. Borges, Brodies Report, There are More Things..., and Shakespeares Memory

24 Mar. G. & Film: Fellini, Lynch, Monty Python

25Apr. G. Capitalism: The evil eye of money; David Foster Wallace snippets

26 Apr. Global G.: too big to fail or live


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Course Requirements

A. Class Participation (20 )

As part of the grade for participation, students are expected to participate in class

discussions and complete possible on-the-spot quizzes.

Notes on attendance: Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class. If you

have a legitimate reason to miss class (sickness, family crisis, religious holiday), please

contact me beforehand so that we can arrange for you to make up any missed material.

Missed classes and/or lack of class participation can add up and adversely affect your

class participation grade.

B. Class presentation (15 )

10-15 minutes; no need to hand in a written presentation; topics to be decided by

student in consultation with the Professor or the Teaching Assistant.

C. Mid-term exam (25 )

D. Final Exam (40 )

Both examswill consist of identification- and essay questions.

Required Texts

Apuleius, The Golden Ass

Mikhail Bulgakov, Master and Margarita

Louis-Ferdinand Cline, Journey to the End of the Night

Franz Kafka, Stories

(Excerpts and shorted texts will be made available on Sakai (Owl) ahead of time)

Aims of the Course

To study major expressions and representations of the grotesque life in literature, visual arts,

and theory from the Antiquity up to today.

Learning Outcomes

The acquisition of general knowledge concerning the place of the grotesque in different

cultural systems and media.

The increased facility at distinguishing grotesque manifestations from humor, the fantastic, the

shocking, or the absurd.

The exposure to a rich collection of artefacts, which will help students acquire a superior sense

of orientation and develop critical skills to distinguish among a variety of grotesque cultural

expressions.

The development of analytic and synthetic skills when dealing with literary, artistic, filmic and

theoretical aspects of the grotesque.The enhancement of the students historical, geographical and theoretical knowledge of

various cultures.

Students will improve their ability to express themselves on these and other related topics,

both orally (through in-class presentations) and in writing (through written examinations).

Course Guidelines Students are expected to attend all lectures and to complete all required

readings before coming to class. In-class presentations (which are not to be longer than 15

minutes) should be articulate, informative and provide personal analytic touch.


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Plagiarism Students must write their essays and assignments in their own words. Whenever

students take an idea or a passage of a text from another author, they must acknowledge their

debt both by using quotation marks where appropriate, and by proper referencing such as

footnotes and citations. Plagiarism is a major academic offense (see Scholastic Offense Policy in

the Western Academic Calendar). The University of Western Ontario uses plagiarism checking

software. Students may be required to submit their written work in electronic form for plagiarism

checking.

AbsenteeismStudents seeking academic accommodation on medical grounds for any missedtests, exams, participation components and/or assignments must apply to the Academic

Counseling office of their home Faculty and provide documentation. Academic accommodation

cannot be granted by the instructor or department.

UWOs Policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness

(https://studentservices.uwo.ca/secure/index.cfm)

Downloadable Student Medical Certificate (SMC): https://studentservices.uwo.ca under

the Medical Documentation heading

Note that, as e-mail will be used extensively for communication with the students, you

should make sure your UWO account is in order.
https://studentservices.uwo.ca/secure/index.cfmhttps://studentservices.uwo.ca/secure/index.cfmhttps://studentservices.uwo.ca/secure/index.cfmhttps://studentservices.uwo.ca/https://studentservices.uwo.ca/https://studentservices.uwo.ca/https://studentservices.uwo.ca/secure/index.cfm

calin mihailescu - the grotesque

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