AJ24071 Literature and Philosophy

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2002
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Professor James Mensch, Ph.D. (lecturer), Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A. (deputy)
Guaranteed by
Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Michaela Hrazdílková
Timetable
Thu 10:50–11:35 32, Thu 11:40–12:25 32
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 18 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/18, only registered: 0/18, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/18
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 7 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
In this class, we will be trying to answer the ancient question, 'What is a self?' through a series of readings. We will begin by considering Freud?s division of the self into the ego, id, and superego. The question that this raises, 'which part is in control?', will be considered when we read Melville's tale of a slave revolt on board a ship and Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Herman Hesse's Steppenwolf will raise the issue of whether selfhood, rather than being a limited system, is actually multiple and varying. Finally, reading W. H. Sebald's the Emigrants will raise the problem of the relation of memory to identity in individuals and communities. We will end by considering how much of self-identity is due to memory and how much is due to our repression of memory.
Syllabus
  • Week 1: Introductory Lecture: Wansee Conference Video-Discussion: What is the Nature of Evil?; Week 2: Freud, Outline of Psychoanalysis-Discussion: What is a Self; Week 3: Melville, Benito Cerino, pp. 141-198; Week 4: Melville, Benito Cerino, pp. 198-223?Discussion: Who is in control?; Week 5: Conrad, Heart of Darkness, Dover: 1-35; Week 6: Conrad, Heart of Darkness, Dover: 35-72 - Discussion: What is the Heart of Darkness?; Week 7: Hesse, Steppenwolf, pp. 3-50; Week 8: Hesse, Steppenwolf, pp. 50-93; Week 9: Hesse, Steppenwolf, pp. 93--147; Week 10: Hesse, Steppenwolf, pp. 147-217 - Discussion: who is Steppenwolf? What part of the self is he?; Week 11: Sebald, The Emigrants, Dr. Henry Selwyn, pp. 3-23, Paul Beryter, pp. 27-63; Week 12: Sebald, The Emigrants, Ambros Adelwarth, pp. 67-145-Discussion: What is the relation between memory and identity.
Literature
  • MELVILLE, Herman. Benito Cereno (Přít.) : Billy Bud ; Benito Cereno. info
  • Freud, Sigmund (1989). An Outline of Psycho-Analysis, tr. JamesStrachey. New York: W. W. Norton and Company
  • Sebald, W.G. (1996). The Emigrants. New York: New Directions
  • CONRAD, Joseph. Heart of darkness. London: Penguin Books, 1994, 110 s. ISBN 0-14-062048-6. info
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught only once.
Credit evaluation note: 2 původní kredity.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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