[ Wesleyan Home Page ] [ WesMaps Home Page ] [ WesMaps Archive ] [ Course Search ] [ Course Search by CID ]
Academic Year 2003/2004

Judaism and Story
RELI 203 FA

From the classical Biblical and Rabbinic periods and down to modern times, Jewish culture has preferred the genre of story to conjure its sacred and secular realities. The composing of imaginative narratives has evoked and inscribed a number of discreet Judaisms, while storytelling and ritualized study have served to forge distinct and competing Jewish identities. This course will focus on the invention of Judaisms and Jewish identities in foundational Biblical tales, interpretive Rabbinic legends, mystical Hasidic fantasies, Yiddish satires, as well as in Kafka parables and other secular transformations of the Jewish tradition in contemporary American and Israeli fiction.

MAJOR READINGS

Selections from the Book of Genesis
Louis Ginsberg, THE LEGENDS OF THE JEWS
I.B. Singer, GIMPEL THE FOOL
Nathan Englander, FOR THE RELIEF OF UNBEARABLE URGES
Allegra Goodman, THE FAMILY MARKOWITZ
Arnold Band, THE TALES OF NAHMAN OF BRATSLAV
Philip Roth, THE COUNTERLIFE

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Midterm and final exams. Four short papers.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

Students will be required to attend three additional discussion sessions (to be arranged).

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS RELI    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-19-2004

Contact wesmaps@wesleyan.edu to submit comments or suggestions. Please include a url, course title, faculty name or other page reference in your email

Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459