Dangerous Reading

What does it mean to read? How does reading shape one’s identity, and how does identity shape how one reads, and what one finds in those books? 

In this foundational program in the humanities and arts, we will examine the intertwined developments of poetry, other literature and history, and the implications of those histories for a theory of reading. What is the function of the poem, how is it heard or read, and how do metaphors and syntax shape the way a people or person might think and feel? Might film function in a manner similar to a poem or are other factors in play? What is the traditional role of the historian, and how do historians produce texts that authorize their own truth? How do historical, poetical and cinematographic works—and the various epistemological claims made in their name—interact in the contemporary moment? What is the role of translation in the dissemination of literary texts and shaping of the historical imagination?

In the past, reading was deadly serious business. We’ll explore the relationship between reading, devotion and power in the ancient Mediterranean; how the advent of printed texts rocked Europe and sparked 100 years of war in the 16th century; links between political cartoons, scandalous pamphlets, and the terror of the French Revolution; and how the advent of post-structuralism and post-modernism in the 20th century has exploded the way we think of reading today. The second half of the quarter will focus on the 20th-century, especially post-World War II, decolonization, and issues of gender, race and identity.

We will read Thucydides' The Peloponnesian War and selections from The Iliad as a companion to our reflections on war, memory, reason, emotion and guilt, along with examples of contemporary pieces, like Marguerite Duras' The War, and Patrick Modiano's Dora Bruder, which challenge conventions of both the historical and the novel form. Film studies will be integral to our inquiries. Readings will also include a variety of history texts, Sappho's poetry, Euripides' Bacchae, selections from The Iliad, Saint Augustine's Confessions, Franz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth, and Robbe-Grillet's Jealousy. 

Student activities will focus on reading, writing, listening, and seminar participation.

Anticipated Credit Equivalencies:

6 - European History

6 - Literature

4 - Poetics