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Crosslistings: HUM 115 |
When T.S. Eliot observed that "humankind cannot bear very much reality," he was not underestimating the human imagination; he was recognizing its powers very clearly. Known in antiquity and the Middle Ages as the faculty for mixing and matching images, associated by Shakespeare's Renaissance Theseus with "the lunatic, the lover, and the poet," the imagination emerged in the Romantic Era as the privileged possession of peasants and children. It had become both vehicle and symbol of resistance to the civilizing project of an increasingly commercial and industrial culture. Not surprisingly, therefore, over the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the alternative worlds created by imagination became, for Western Imperialist culture, a hotly contested terrain. This course explores the terrain of the imagination with the aim of developing an understanding of its powers that is both documentary and experiential. Participants will read a series of tales from collections both canonical (by the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen) and noncanonical (by Oscar Wilde, Angela Carter) and then a selection of major narratives that associate alternative worlds with childhood (by Lewis Carroll, Frank Baum, James Barrie). Finally, they will explore a contemporary imaginary world created by a writer of their own choosing and, individually and collaboratively, create their own imaginary worlds.
Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.
COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion
Level: UGRD Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA COL Grading Mode: Student Option
Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.
Last Updated on MAR-26-2001
Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459