Required Texts
Shakespeare, William. The Life of Henry V. Edited by J. R. Brown. New York, NY: Signet Classics/Penguin, 1989. ISBN: 9780451522863.
———. Othello. Edited by E. A. J. Honigmann. Third edition. London, UK: Arden Shakespeare, 1996. ISBN: 9781903436455.
Fugard, Athol, John Kani, and Winston Ntshona. Statements. New York, NY: Theatre Communications Group, 1986. ISBN: 9780930452612. (Contains the play The Island.)
Barnes, Julian. A History of the World in Ten and a Half Chapters. New York, NY: Vintage, 1990. ISBN: 9780679731375.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Second edition. Edited by Johanna M. Smith. Boston, MA: Bedford/St.Martin's, 2000. ISBN: 9780312191269.
Pullman, Philip. His Dark Materials Trilogy. New York, NY: Laurel Leaf/Random House, 2003. ISBN: 9780440238607.
Among the Other Texts We Will Study
Dinesan, Isak. "The Blank Page."
Lovelace, Earl. "Joebell and America."
Dickinson, Emily. "Tell all the truth," and "After great pain."
The Book of Genesis
Milton, John. Selections from Paradise Lost.
Kureishi, Hanif. My Son the Fanatic.
Gericault, Theodore. The Raft of the Medusa.
The Limbourg Brothers. Les Tres Riches Heures de Jean, Duc de Berri.
Olivier, Laurence. Henry V. 1944.
Whale, James. Frankenstein. 1931.
Condon, Bill. Gods and Monsters. 1998.
Hawks, Howard. His Girl Friday. 1940.
Kelly, Gene, and Stanley Donan. Singin' in the Rain. 1951.
Ray, Satyajit. "The Music Room." Jalsaghar. 1958.
Prasad, Udayam. My Son, The Fanatic. 1997.
Gaghan, Stephen. Syriana. 2005.
Bharadwaj, Vishal. Omkara. 2006.
And a number of critical essays as well…
Students are encouraged to bring in other "links" (images, further reading, criticism, analogs) at any time.
| SES # | TOPICS | READINGS | THEATER AND MEDIA EVENTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Challenges in Representation: War, the State, the Past, the Other | |||
| 1 | Introductions: Textual Analysis Using Dickinson and Shakespeare | ||
| 2 | Discussion of Henry V: Text, Image, and Performance |
Shakespeare. Henry V. Henderson, Diana E. Henry V: An Introduction through Performance. |
|
| 3 | Discussion of Henry V: Film, Contexts | Butler, Judith. "Photography, War, Outrage." | |
| 4 | Discussion of Othello | Shakespeare. Othello. | Sampling Othello/Otello/OJ/O. |
| 5 | Othello and Cross-medial, Cross-temporal Adaptation | ||
| 6 | Discussion of The Island | Fugard, Kani, and Ntshona. The Island. | |
| 7 | Discuss Theatre; Reports | Performance of bobrauschamerica. Directed by Anne Bogart at the American Repertory Theater, Brattle Street. | |
| 8 | Reports and Reflections | Omkara | |
| 9 | "Joebell and America" | Lovelace. "Joebell and America." | |
| Challenges in Representation: Mad Science, Imagined Worlds | |||
| 10 | Frankenstein |
Shelley. Frankenstein. Shor, Esther. Frankenstein and Film. |
Performance of August Wilson's "Radio Golf" at the Huntington Theater. |
| 11 | Frankenstein (cont.) | Frankenstein | |
| 12 | Discussion of the Epic and the Sublime |
The Book of Genesis Milton. Paradise Lost. Books 1-2. Shelley. "Mont Blanc." |
|
| 13 | His Dark Materials | His Dark Materials. Vol. 1. | Gods and Monsters |
| 14 | British Radio/Recorded Comedy | His Dark Materials. Vol. 2. | Talk by Suzan-Lori Parks, playwright. |
| 15 |
Comedy and Fantasy His Dark Materials (cont.) |
His Girl Friday | |
| 16 | His Dark Materials (cont.) | His Dark Materials. Vol. 3. | |
| 17 | The Musical, Dance, Song | Singin' in the Rain | |
| Challenges in Representation: Love and The World Unraveling | |||
| 18 | Attend Prof. Edward Turk's Class for Further Discussion with Rambert and Moran |
Three short experimental films by Pascal Rambert, followed by a Q&A. A performance (by Rambert, Kate Moran, and Alexandre Meyer) of Le Debut de l'a (The beginning of a). |
|
| 19 | A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters | A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters. | |
| 20 | A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters (cont.) | ||
| 21 | Possible Guest Speaker | ||
| 22 | Gericault, Paintings | Ray. Jalsaghar. | |
| 23 | My Son, the Fanatic | Kureishi. My Son, the Fanatic. | |
| 24 | My Son, the Fanatic (cont.) | My Son, the Fanatic | |
| 25 | "After great pain," Where are We? | Dickinson. "After great pain." | |
| 26 |
"The Blank Page" Conclusions |
Dinesan. "The Blank Page." |
Syriana |