| Call Number | 12603 |
|---|---|
| Day & Time Location |
W 2:10pm-4:00pm 201 Casa Hispánica |
| Points | 3 |
| Grading Mode | Standard |
| Approvals Required | None |
| Instructor | Patricia E Grieve |
| Type | SEMINAR |
| Method of Instruction | In-Person |
| Course Description | Frametale narratives, the art of inserting stories within stories, in oral and written forms, originated in East and South Asia centuries ago; tales familiar to Europe, often called novellas, can trace their development from oral tales to transmitted Sanskrit and Pahlavi tales, as well as Arabic and Hebrew stories. Both Muslim Spain and Christian Spain served as the nexus between the East and Europe in the journey of translation and the creation of new works. Through readings and films, and employing the theoretical concepts of Homi Bhabha (liminality, hybridity, third space) and Etienne Balibar (frontiers and the nation), as well as selected readings of Fernand Braudel and others on the Mediterranean world, the course examines the structure, meaning, and function of ancient, medieval, and early modern frametale narratives, using as theoretical frame in three ways: 1) Theory and practice of frames. Frames are not neutral; they can be narrative seductions, guiding and even strongly manipulating how we read the stories that follow; they can be used to reflect the intersections of orality and literacy. In order to understand their enduring power, we also explore the idea of literary frames through some contemporary films. 2) The exploration in their cultural contexts of topics such as the literary figures of the anti-hero and the trickster, precursors to the picaresque, women in the courtroom, the conflict of chance and human agency, monstrous births as political prophecy, Christian, Muslim, and Jewish relations in medieval and early modern Mediterranean cultures, the sexual frankness of the novella form, and gender politics. 3) How are narratives formed? The course traces the development of the short tale/novella from its ancient Asian origins through the seventeenth century, when Cervantes literary experiments gave new life to the novella form, and the Spanish writer María de Zayas challenged Cervantes views on love and marriage in her own highly regarded collections of novellas; we move to the present with the study of three contemporary films. But before they became complex and entertaining narratives, many of the well known tales had their bare bones origins in joke books, laws and legal theories, conduct manuals, collections of aphorisms and other wise and pithy sayings, misogynist non-fiction writings, and Biblical stories. Although the works are available in English translations, lectures will refer to meanings in both English and the original languages; students who can read the original works in Span |
| Web Site | Vergil |
| Department | Comparative Literature and Society, Institute for |
| Enrollment | 3 students (15 max) as of 12:07PM Monday, April 29, 2024 |
| Subject | Comparative Literature & Society |
| Number | GR6333 |
| Section | 001 |
| Division | Graduate School of Arts and Sciences |
| Campus | Morningside |
| Section key | 20233CPLS6333G001 |