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Academic Year 2001/2002


Imaginary Worlds
COL 115 FA

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.

MAJOR READINGS

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, THE COMPLETE FAIRY TALES OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM
Jack Zipes, trans., BEAUTY AND THE BEAST AND OTHER CLASSIC FAIRY TALES
Hans Christian Andersen, HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES: A SELECTION
Oscar Wilde, THE HAPPY PRINCE AND OTHER TALES and A HOUSE OF POMEGRANATES
Angela Carter, editor, THE OLD WIVES' FAIRY TALE BOOK
Lewis Carroll, ALICE IN WONDERLAND and THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
L. Frank Baum, THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ
James M. Barrie, PETER PAN IN KENSINGTON GARDENS and PETER AND WENDY
J.R.R. Tolkein, "On Fairy-Stories"
Jacqueline Rose, THE CASE OF PETER PAN

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Thoughtful preparation, dedicated participation in class discussion, three interpretive essays and one creative project.

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

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

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-19-2002


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