Class notes
Lecture notes Literature in Crisis
- Course
- Institution
This 43 page document offers notes across the whole module, include assessment types and example questions.
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
cyannfielding
Content preview
Literature in CrisisLecture and Seminar One
BLOCK ONE: Literature at the End of the World
BLOCK TWO: Civil War
BLOCK THREE: Enlightenment and Imperialism (Knowing and ruling)
BLOCK FOUR: World war, conflict, pollution and climate change
-Criticism as crisis
-Literature as apocalypse
Assessment:
-Critical commentary/close reading (2000 words) – summative 30%
Spring Term week 17
-Blog Post Summative 10% 500 words Spring Term
-2-hour summer exam – 60%
Plus; Formative blog posts x 4, critical commentary week 8,
Criticism as Crisis
Walter Benjamin
-task of the literary critic (Marxist) to bring about the real state of
emergency and transformative way of thinking
-the normal have their own essential violence’s, and continuity is the
essential scandal
-we haven’t had enough crisis
Raymond Williams (The country and the city)
-reflecting upon visiting English country houses as a tourist
-look at the land forms and think it through as work; visualise how the
land adapted to hold the houses and families
-socialist changes in taxation – National Trust
-real identity vs false identity – cosplay
Virginia Woolf
-Emotion mixed with resentment towards sex
Literature as Apocalypse
The Book of Revelation
,-final book in the bible
-written by John (unlikely)
-John Patmos
-institutionalising; making Christianity respectable political and religious
entity
-link to Jewish tribes; ideas of repression etc
-Old bible takes fire out the testament
-Text of revenge
D H Lawrence
-book about ‘The Book of Revelation’ and how much he hated it; most
disgusting but yet the most influential
-we hear about the oppression of the lamb but only ever see it acting like
a lion
-spotting the various supernatural signs
Latin – Revelare
Greek – Apokalypsis
-Revealing something/uncovering something; unveiling
Andre Chouraqui – Raising the tone of philosophy (1993)
-someone’s ear has to be lifted to see the hair, in order to whisper a
secret
-pursuing the idea of unveiling through the bible (when Noah gets drunk)
(Liviticus) – the sensual and sexual meaning of uncovering; uncovering a
secret, revealing a truth
-relationship to literature
-a thought from outside, to your ear, so essential the idea of the unknown
being spread
-can be thematised under the premise of being uncovered
-the idea of writing; visualising – justice from tradition (artists) the act of
writing; not just a vision, but also a text
-‘John the revelator’
Jacques Derrida on nuclear war
-1984
-the end of the world; no one has ever seen it, and when it does happen
no one will ever be able to see it and report on it
-essentially the Apocalypse is a work of literature and literature only, as
if it has happened you won’t be able to tell it
Macbeth
,-upon killing Duncan; that is the easy part – but there are the
consequences; there is judgement
-there is one thing doing the terribly act, but it is another to live with it
-obliterating the guilt will only occur when the apocalypse happens; the
idea of wanting to jump to it, a reset
-satisfaction
Paul de man – Blindness and insight
-apocalyptic fantasy of clearing the slate and beginning again
Seminar
-theological, contextual and cultural background knowledge
-images, repetitions and patterns
-the idea of women; 21st century context (third, potentially fourth wave
feminism; lesbianism and radical; liberal) and parallels; condemning
them – links to seven sins
-Strong imagery: relation to lambs, promiscuity, women, fertility, devil
-Rising from the dead – links to anxiety, the image of reborn; new
beginnings
- (Feminist readings in the library)
-Historicist point of view differs ideologically
-The use of similes ‘like bronze’ ‘like wool’ ‘like blazing fire’ – images of
importance, but also material but not concrete – rich imagery
-language of disagreement and compulsion
- ‘Judgement day’ – the will – something to come in the future
-romantic notion of the sublime
-Apocalypse acting as the ultimate form of fear for the religious
-the word of God; form of control over society – revelation – something
acting as power
-old testament and new testament difference – adultery comparison –
adaptation
and progression
-acts as a form of reassurance; for some that’s a concept of imagine life
after death, or another world, some idea of post-life; allows the escape
from comprehending emotionally, mentally and physically what death
actually beholds for the individual
-Strong sense of what life is meant for; contextual link to existential
crisis’
-Optional to follow; desire to leave something behind
-Idea that death can be used as an image of new life and inspiration; form
of art and beauty; how this is betrayed in literature
, -the different forms of crisis, ‘in’ and ‘of’ – shows the time, ideological,
contextual and personal differences; holding perspectives in various
forms
-offers a outlook of a more pessimistic point of view; the negative
connotations of religion
Lecture Two and Seminar Two
Sons of God;
-A race of giant, divine beings
-The fallen angels
-Descendants of Seth
-The story presents this intermarrying of humans and other – Nephilim
-Half human, half divine characters
-Extreme wickedness of the human race
-Identify the mixing of races as a wickedness
-Why was it necessary to destroy every living creature on earth?
-Mixed race relationships context – marriage
-US repealed the laws in 1967
Pollution;
- ‘the presence in or introduction into the environment (esp. as a result of
human activity) of harmful poisonous substances’
-the effect is moral as well as physical
-the introduction of contaminants into the human race
-God regrets creating
-pollution spreads, and thus needs to be eliminated; but still leaves out
the horror and the destruction
The Old English Genesis A;
-Old English poem; paraphrase of the first book of the bible
-oldest substantial poem we have
-Flood different to the bible version
- ‘Then the lord himself signified when he had closed up that ship’ –
closing the door, but also making a gesture of blessing as he closes the
door
-anonymous
-does not subscribe to the theory of fallen angels as the sons of god;
adopts the Seth theory
-transferred it into their own time – Anglo Saxon ship, Old English poem
idiom, not just poetic form, heroic relationships and ethics
-God as a hero but also god as a war lord; ruler of victories, stiff-minded
king, flood-army, native land, he ravaged the home
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller cyannfielding. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $11.29. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
78998 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now