Spring 2018 ENGL 4002 Beckett, Modernism, and Taught by Prof. Jen “Samuel Media” – Buckley When the young British in director Peter Hall staged Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot 1955, he did not pretend to understand the play. He knew, however, that it would challenge London theatre audiences to question everything they thought they knew about drama. In this course we will study how Beckett, whom one prominent biographer called writing to expose and exploit what he considered to be “the last modernist,” shaped his the specific traits of every medium for which he wrote or wrote about: print, theatre, radio, television, film, and the visual arts. We will attend in particular to how Beckett scripted the human body across media, focusing on the ways in which those bodies – often disabled, constrained, neglected, and/or suffering attempt, and frequently fail, to – communicate using speech, writing, movement, and gesture. Our study will be grounded in the production and reception of works in English, though we will address his Beckett’s writing in French, his self-translations of his own work to and from both languages, and his direction of his plays in German. Readings include a selection of stories, novels, and essays; his plays for the Beckett’s stage, radio, and television; excerpts from his published and his Theatrical Notebooks correspondence; the script of his film, his libretto for the opera and critical Film; Neither; essays about writing. Students will view, listen to, and/or occasionally perform Beckett’s excerpts from his writing for performance. Writing assignments include informal reading journal entries, a short critical essay of 5 pages, and one research-based creative project and/or critical essay of 15-20 pages. AREA: British Literature PERIOD: 20th/21st Centuries ENGL 4005 Writing and Revolution in “Freedom’s Line: U.S. Literary Culture” – Taught by Prof. Laura Rigal The revolutionary tradition in American culture and society has been inseparable from the dream that writing could change the world. In the United States, the great matters of revolutionary modernity law and violence; structural racism and the rights of man; – and the secular state– are also aesthetic and affective matters of women’s work, religion reading, writing and the authority of print. This course is an opportunity to critically investigate major prose genres of the U.S. literary tradition manifesto, autobiography, –
Spring 2018 ENGL 4002 “Samuel Beckett, Modernism, and Media” – Taught by Prof. Jen Buckley When the young British director Peter Hall staged Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot in 1955, he did not pretend to understand the play. He knew, however, that it would challenge London theatre audiences to question everything they thought they knew about drama. In this course we will study how Beckett, whom one prominent biographer called “the last modernist,” shaped his writing to expose and exploit what he considered to be the specific traits of every medium for which he wrote or wrote about: print, theatre, radio, television, film, and the visual arts. We will attend in particular to how Beckett scripted the human body across media, focusing on the ways in which those bodies – often disabled, constrained, neglected, and/or suffering – attempt, and frequently fail, to communicate using speech, writing, movement, and gesture. Our study will be grounded in the production and reception of Beckett’s works in English, though we will address his writing in French, his self-translations of his own work to and from both languages, and his direction of his plays in German. Readings include a selection of Beckett’s stories, novels, and essays; his plays for the stage, radio, and television; excerpts from his published Theatrical Notebooks and his correspondence; the script of his film, Film; his libretto for the opera Neither; and critical essays about Beckett’s writing. Students will view, listen to, and/or occasionally perform excerpts from his writing for performance. Writing assignments include informal reading journal entries, a short critical essay of 5 pages, and one research-based creative project and/or critical essay of 15-20 pages. AREA: British Literature PERIOD: 20th/21st Centuries ENGL 4005 “Freedom’s Line: Writing and Revolution in U.S. Literary Culture” – Taught by Prof. Laura Rigal The revolutionary tradition in American culture and society has been inseparable from the dream that writing could change the world. In the United States, the great matters of revolutionary modernity – law and violence; structural racism and the rights of man; women’s work, religion and the secular state– are also aesthetic and affective matters of reading, writing and the authority of print. This course is an opportunity to critically investigate major prose genres of the U.S. literary tradition – manifesto, autobiography,