Tales of Transcendental Homelessness: Journey, Adventure, and the Foreigner Before the Novel. COL 233 Fall 2016

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Tales of Transcendental Homelessness: Journey, Adventure, and the Foreigner Before the Novel COL 233 Fall 2016 Ulysses blinding Polyphemus, 6 th century B.C. Room #110 Boger Hall Tues/Thurs 2:50-4:10pm Prof.

1 Tales of Transcendental Homelessness: Journey, Adventure, and the Foreigner Before the Novel COL 233 Fall 2016 Ulysses blinding Polyphemus, 6 th century B.C. Room #110 Boger Hall Tues/Thurs 2:50-4:10pm Prof. Gabrielle Ponce-Hegenauer gponce@wesleyan.edu ext.# 2322 Office #319 Boger Hall Office Hours: Tues/Thurs 10:30-11:30am, or by apt. Happy are those ages when the starry sky is the map of all possible paths The world is wide and yet it is like a home, wrote Georg Lukács in his 1916 Theory of the Novel. How do the conditions of linguistic, cultural, metaphysical and material homelessness occasion the ways in which identity is lexically structured and recast? This course examines the role that travel, new encounters, playing the foreigner, greeting the visitor, and sojourning through multicultural landscapes played in the growth of imaginative literature during the European Renaissance. In addition to a focus on early modern rise of novelistic storytelling in Boccaccio, de Navarre, Colonna, Montalvo, Montemayor, Cervantes, Basho, Voltaire, Sterne, and anonymous authors, readings will include selections from Ancient Greek, Latin and Medieval forms of novelistic prose. We will conclude with a contemporary piece of journalistic storytelling--fractured Lands (August 14 th, 2016)--a full-length narrative account of life in the Middle-East following the Arab Spring. Through a discussion of the ways in which previously observed narrative forms are employed to recast international news within the context of a national newspaper we will engage our study of narrative structure with several contemporary problematics involved in the representation of life outside the United States. Throughout this course we will engage with Lukács sense of our own modern transcendental homelessness and examine how the historical conditions of various cultures gave rise to the invention and transmutation of aesthetic forms. Special attention will be paid to the ways in which characters and authors navigate literary (and self-) representation in the absence of a set linguistic home. 1

2 Expectations Communicate with me. It is important to me that I develop a clear understanding of your expectations for this course. That does not mean that the full variety of your expectations will be satisfied. However, it does allow me to better consider your needs, perspectives, uncertainties and hopes. You are always welcome to write me an or come to my office hours if you are not comfortable addressing something in class. Your input also helps to shape future classes. Exercise your wisdom and your voice. Come to class on time and prepared. I expect that you will come to class with your own notes and questions in an organized, preferably written, format. This will likely take the form of marginal notes or bullet points. However, you may choose to organize your thoughts in prose if that suits you. Some of this will take place in the form of the assigned journal entries. How you organize your observations and thoughts on a given text is entirely up to you. However, you should expect to articulate yourself clearly and feel sufficiently prepared to dialogue with me and with your peers about the reading. It is mandatory that you bring the correct edition of the assigned text to the class meeting on the day that it is being discussed so that you can make reference to a common text (i.e. same page numbers) and also find references which I or your classmates make to the reading. You do NOT need to arrive at a definitive position, stance or argument about the text. Your goal during preparation (and discussion) should be observation, openness and critical inquiry. Respect for yourself, for me, for your classmates and for the object of study is mandatory. When you take a position on a given topic or reading, the strength of your position should come from the quality of your observations, your reasoning and your articulation of these. Aggressive tone and language, or other forms of intimidation, particularly when directed toward your classmates, rarely enriches the development of your own position or those around you. I do not permit this type of behavior in the classroom. It is strongly recommended that you delay judgment during class discussion in order to apprehend and consider as many perspectives as possible in the development of your own position. Nothing is considered crazy and you are encouraged to pursue complex and nuanced ideas. This means that you should likewise be prepared to accept and encouraging new and/or unorthodox thought in your peers. Be constructive. No cell phones, computers, pads, etc. Over the course of the semester, with the exception of your papers, you will be expected to conduct your work by hand. Why? Because technology is the enemy? Absolutely not. These devices are crucial for the way I live, work and conduct my research. I imagine something similar is true for all of you. This is an exercise in slowing down input and output in order to experience a decelerated form of mindfulness which you might otherwise not have the opportunity to practice. As such your notes and your journal entries should be kept in a single notebook which you will bring to all class meetings. Consider it your intellectual journal for this course. 2

3 Goals The Novel By the end of this course you should have a strong grasp of forms of expression in European narrative prose which predate or directly follow the invention of the modern novel: Cervantes Don Quijote (1605, 1615). This transhistorical, transnational and multicultural trajectory will include authors from various periods, religions, languages, and perspectives. As such you will have an exemplary sampling of the development of narrative prose which should give you the capacity to recognize tropes, forms and strategies in many linguistic, cultural and historical contexts, including, and perhaps most importantly, your own. Theory of the Novel By the end of this course you will have practiced a deep and prolonged engagement with a seminal text in literary and aesthetic theory which still holds particular relevance for the study of the novel as a literary genre. You should be able to apprehend, summarize and dialogue with Lukács s position, to locate his position within a larger critical history. You should be prepared to extend these skills to the application of future theoretical texts and lexicons. Transcendental Homelessness Over the course of the semester we will explore many forms of homelessness. You should be able to articulate several variations of this term and engage the concept in discussions of identity, culture, and lexical expression as an active participant in the global world. Technical You will develop a level of comfort with early modern texts in their original format and be able to incorporate extratexual evidence in the reconstruction of cultural context. You will be able to clearly engage the concept of a lexicon. You will be able to discuss forms, tropes, and strategies in the crafting of narrative prose. You will have a sense of formal traditions derived from texts which are in dialogue with one another, rather than a superimposed set of canonical texts. You will be able to discuss literary genres with comfort and fluidity. You will be able to recognize and employ your research and knowledge in critical or creative formats, optimally in both. 3

4 Grades The amount of weight assigned to each paper increases over the course of the term as you develop as a reader and a writer. Breakdown of major grades: Assignments Percentage of Total Grade Participation (speaking & writing) 25% Paper #1 20% Paper #2 20% Final Paper #3 35 % Participation: Over the course of the term you will write a total of 16 1-paragraph responses to the readings. Each 1-paragraph response will receive 1-5 points. The additional 20% of the participation grade will assess in-class performance. Paper #1: A 3-4 page close reading, analysis or comparison of one or more of the following texts: Odyssey, Oedipus the King, Metamorphoses, The Ass, The Golden Ass, An Ethiopian Romance. It is recommended that you incorporate at least one in-class secondary text into your analysis, i.e. Aristotle, Lukács, Bakhtin. However, it is NOT required to use secondary literature in your first paper. Your first paper will count for 20% of your final grade. You will have the option of completing one revision (either your first or second paper). Paper #2: A 3-4 page close reading, analysis or comparison of one or more of the following texts: Parzival, Tales from the Thousand and One Nights, Decameron, Heptameron, Hypnerotomachia, Amadis of Gaul, Lazarillo of Tormes, Diana, Abencerraje. It is required that you incorporate either a secondary source or another primary source contemporary to the period (i.e. an early modern copy in the special collections library). If you would like to include rare books, translations or illustrations in your paper, please talk to me in advance. Your second paper will count for 20%. You will have the option of completing one revision (either your first or second paper). Final Paper: Either: (1) a research paper of 8-12 pages, or (2) a piece of either autobiographical or narrative prose (coordinates*) of pages. If you choose the creative project, it is strongly recommended that you begin meeting with me early in the semester in order to adequately develop the frame and characters of your narrative well in advance. You will be expected to incorporate forms, motifs, tropes and narrative strategies (as research in craft) from the texts which we have studied. It is also strongly recommended that you take the time to read Fractured Lands in advance in order to gain a contemporary example which you may but are not required to employ as a model for your project. Your final paper will count for 35%. 4

5 Late Papers: All papers must be submitted to Moodle by 2:30pm on the day that they are due. Late submissions which to not infringe upon class attendance will receive a 2% deduction for each day beyond the allotted time. Late submissions which do infringe upon class attendance will receive a 5% deduction for each day beyond the allotted time. Each late day consists of a 24- hour period from 2:30pm to 2:30pm on the following day. Grace-periods of a matter of minutes are left to my discretion and will be determined based upon class performance and the timeliness of previous submissions. Attendance: You are allotted (2) unexcused absences for any personal reason. You are not required to offer any explanation or account for yourself in this instance. All subsequent absences will be marked as unexcused absences. Each unexcused absence will result in a 2% subtraction from the final grade percentage. All absences are unexcused unless accompanied by formal written contact from your class dean. Other Policies Disability Resources If you required any sort of accommodations, please come to my office hours or contact me by with the pertinent paperwork this week. Wesleyan is committed to ensuring that all qualified students with disabilities are afforded an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from its programs and services. To receive accommodations, a student must have a documented disability as defined by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, and provide documentation of the disability. Since accommodations may require early planning and are typically not provided retroactively, please contact Dean Patey at your earliest convenience in Disability Resources (located in North College, Room 21) or call for an appointment to discuss your needs and the process for requesting accommodations. Further information on registering with Disabilities Services can be found online at Honor Code Violation of the Wesleyan Honor Code is not only immediately subject to the Honor Board and the Student Judicial Board, it is also a breach of trust and an act of disrespect towards me and towards your classmates. If you are at all certain please consult the Honor Code in advance: Outside of Class Contact In the unlikely event that changes must be made to a class meeting on short notice, I will contact you via . 5

6 Required Texts 1. All Moodle readings must be printed with notes/markings/highlights for class. All readings are currently available on Moodle. 2. Georg Lukács. Theory of the Novel. Trans. Anna Bostock. MIT Press. ISBN Apuleius. The Golden Ass. Trans. P.G. Walsh. Oxford UP. ISBN Heliodorus. An Ethiopian Romance. Trans. Moses Hadas. U. Penn. Press. ISBN Anonymous. Lazarillo de Tormes. Trans. Ilan Stavans. Norton Critical Eds. ISBN Anonymous. Abencerraje. Trans. Barbara Fuchs ISBN Matsuo Basho. The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches. Trans. Nobuyuki Yuasa. Penguin Classics. ISBN Voltaire. Candide and Other Stories. Oxford UP. ISBN Laurence Sterne. A Sentimental Journey and Other Writings. Oxford UP. ISBN Class Schedule All assignments are listed on the day they are due such that readings are listed on the day they are to be discussed and writings are listed on the day that a paper or journal must be completed. All readings marked Ñ are available on Moodle; all other readings should be purchased in advance from the bookstore or another source providing the same edition. All papers must be submitted to Moodle by 2:30pm on the day they are due. For peer-review roundtables paper proposals will be posted to Moodle after class. 6

7 UNIT 1: NAMES & NAMELESSNESS Week 1 Tuesday, 6 September: Introduction Thursday, 8 September: : Ñ Homer. The Odyssey. Books 1 & 9. Norton Anthology of World Literature. 2 nd edition. v.a, p , Lukács, Georg. Integrated Civilizations. The Theory of the Novel: A historico-philosophical essay on the forms of great epic literature. trans. Anna Bostock. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1971, p : Journal entry #1 (1-paragraph response) Week 2 Tuesday, 13 September Ñ Sophocles. Oedipus the King. Norton Anthology of World Literature. 2 nd edition. v.a, p Ñ Janko, Richard. Introduction. Poetics. Aristotle. Indianapolis: Hacket Publishing Company, 1987, pp.ix-1. : Journal entry #2 (1-paragraph response) Thursday, 15 September : Ñ Sophocles. Oedipus the King. Norton Anthology of World Literature. 2 nd edition. v.a, p Ñ Aristotle. Poetics. Trans. Richard Janko. Indianapolis: Hacket Publishing Company, 1987, p : Journal entry #3 (1-paragraph response) 7

8 UNIT 2: NARRATIVE TROPES AND TRANSFORMATIONS Week 3 Tuesday, 20 September Ñ Ovid. Metamorphoses. Books 1 & 9. trans. Michael Simpson. Amherst: U of Massachusetts Press, 2001, p.9-25 & Ñ Frye, Northrop. Theory of Modes. Anatomy of Criticism. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1957, pp : Journal entry #4 (1-paragraph response) Thursday, 22 September Ñ Pseudo-Lucian. The Ass. Collected Ancient Greek Novels. ed. B.P. Reardon, trans. J. P. Sullivan. Berkeley: U California Press, 2008, pp Lukács, Georg. The Problem of the History of Forms. The Theory of the Novel: A historico-philosophical essay on the forms of great epic literature. trans. Anna Bostock. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1971, p : Journal entry #5 (1-paragraph response) Week 4 Tuesday, 27 September Apuleius. The Golden Ass. Books 1-4, trans. P.G. Walsh. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008, pp Lukács, Georg. The Epic and the Novel. The Theory of the Novel: A historico-philosophical essay on the forms of great epic literature. trans. Anna Bostock. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1971, pp : Journal entry #6 (1-paragraph response) 8

9 Thursday, 29 September Apuleius. The Golden Ass. Books 4-9, trans. P.G. Walsh. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008, pp : Journal entry #7 (1-paragraph response) Week 5 Tuesday, 4 October Apuleius. The Golden Ass. Books 10-11, trans. P.G. Walsh. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008, pp Lukács, Georg. The Inner Form of the Novel. The Theory of the Novel: A historico-philosophical essay on the forms of great epic literature. trans. Anna Bostock. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1971, pp : Journal entry #8 (1-paragraph response). Thursday, 6 October Heliodorus. An Ethiopian Romance. Books 1-4, trans. Moses Hadas. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1957, pp : Journal entry #9 Journals Collected at the End of Class. Week 6 Tuesday, 11 October Heliodorus. An Ethiopian Romance. Book 5-10, trans. Moses Hadas. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1957, pp Lukács, Georg. The Historico-philosophical Conditioning of the Novel and its Significance. The Theory of the Novel: A historico-philosophical essay on the forms of great epic literature. trans. Anna Bostock. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1971, pp

10 1-page proposal for paper #1 Thursday, 13 October: ROUND TABLE ON UNITS 1 & 2: WORKSHOP PAPER TOPICS 1-page paper proposals of classmates 1-3 bullet point outline of points and citations UNIT 3: FRAMES AND OTHER PERIPATETIC DEVICES Week 7 Tuesday, 18 October: Ñ Tales from the Thousand and One Nights. trans. N. J. Dawood. London: Penguin, 1973, pp Ñ Boccaccio. Decameron. ed. Jonathan Usher. trans. Guido Waldman. Oxford: Oxford UP, pp.2-23, , Ñ de Navarre, Marguerite. Heptameron. trans. P. A. Chilton. London: Penguin, 2004, pp , PAPER #1 DUE Thursday, 20 October Ñ Von Eschenbach. Parzival. Books 1-4, ed. André Lefevere. New York: Continuum, 1991, pp Journal entry #10 Week 8 NO CLASS, Tuesday 25 October Thursday, 27 October Ñ Colonna, Francesco. Hypnerotomachia. The Strife of Love in a Dreame. London: Simon Waterson, 1592, pp.a2-d2. Ñ Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. Amadis of Gaul. Ed. Edwin B. Place and Herbert C. Behm. Lexington: UP of Kentucky, 2003, pp

11 : Journal Entry #11 Week 9 Anonymous. Lazarillo de Tormes. trans. Ilan Stavans. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2016, pp OPTIONAL REVISION OF PAPER #1 DUE Thursday, 3 November Montemayor, Jorge. Diana of George of Montemayor. Translated out of Spanish into English by Bartholomew Yong of the Middle Temple Gentleman. London: Edm. Bollifant, 1598, pp.a2-30. Anonymous. Abencerraje. Trans. Barbara Fuchs. Philadelphia: Univeristy of Pennsylvania Press, Journal entry #12 Journals collected at the end of class Week 10 Tuesday, 8 November: SPECIAL VISIT TO RARE BOOKS Paper # 2 Proposal Thursday, 10 November: ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION OF PAPER #2 TOPICS UNIT 4: REFIGURING NARRATIVE LANDSCAPES Week 11 Tuesday, 15 November Ñ Cervantes, Miguel de. The Trials of Persiles & Sigismunda. trans. Celia Richmond Weller & Clark A. Colahan. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2009, pp

12 : PAPER #2 DUE Thursday, 17 November ÑCervantes, Miguel de. The Trials of Persiles & Sigismunda. trans. Celia Richmond Weller & Clark A. Colahan. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2009, pp Journal entry #13 Week 12 Tuesday, 22 November Matsuo Basho. The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches. trans. Nobuyuki Yuasa. London: Penguin, 1996, pp Journal entry #14 NO CLASS, Thursday 24 November Week 13 Tuesday, 29 November Voltaire. Candide and Other Stories. trans. Roger Pearson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008, pp Journal entry #15 OPTIONAL REVISION PAPER #2 DUE Thursday, 1 December Laurence Sterne. A Sentimental Journey and Other Writings. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008, pp : 12

13 Journal entry #16 Week 14 Tuesday, 6 December : Scott Anderson. Fractured Lands. New York Times Magazine, 14 August : Journal Entry #17 Journals collected at the end of class Thursday, 9 December: ROUNDTABLE ON FINAL PAPER : Scott Anderson. Fractured Lands. New York Times Magazine, 14 August : final paper proposal (1-3 paragraphs plus 1-3 page outline of major points and citations) Creative option: 2-3 page outline with design of tropes, forms, frames and structures to be used. And, 2-page formal analysis of your creative piece; a.k.a. artist s statement. Friday, 10 December o Individual meetings to review final paper topic Tuesday, 13 December, 2:30pm FINAL PAPER DUE. 13

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