English 282.003 SPRING 2010
When: M-W 2:30-3:45 Where: BA 463 Who: Prof. Federica K.Clementi
Office: English/Humanities Building, 221; ph. 777.7227
Email: [email protected]
Office Hours: M/W: 12:00-2:00; 4:00-5:00~ One extra hour to be arranged by appointment
BIBLICAL ECHOES IN MODERN CULTURE
Foreword, Forewarned!
The syllabus is a “contract” and I, for one, do abide by its regulations and agreements and expect students to do the same.
However, not being of the same import as Moses’ Laws etched in stone (which also could have used some revisiting, if you
ask me), this syllabus and class schedule must be understood as a preliminary plan to be used by a (often) living person—
the professor—and a (hopefully) living group of people—the students—and therefore these documents are a growing,
developing, morphing entity, and I intend to respect their in-progress nature. THERE WILL BE CHANGES to the schedule and
they will be discussed in class and posted on BlackBoard, which you can access from the comfort of your wherevers. Updates
won’t be unreasonable, inaccessible or esoteric, and I trust you are all bright enough to catch up with them promptly as we
move along. Changes will always be to the students’ advantage and to profit this course’s learning goals.
Description
Was Abraham a villain or a hero? Is Exile ever going to end, or are we still roaming the desert? Could the Garden of Eden be
my backyard? So, am I or not my bother’s keeper?... (And what would Voltaire, Lord Byron, Kafka, Freud, or Bob Dylan say in
this regard?)
Starting with the Enlightenment, this course will look at the way in which modern literature, art and culture has dealt with the
question of God, Justice and the human bond—taking inspiration from or issue with the way in which these concepts are
problematized and represented in the Hebrew Bible. We will compare how the Judaic ethical and philosophical tradition as
formulated in the bible has influenced the Western canon and is echoed in modern Jewish and non-Jewish texts. Our analysis of
the selected works will move in three directions: we will look for Biblical symbology and imagery in modern literature and art; we
will analyze how modern philosophers, authors and artists have recycled and transformed certain biblical stories; finally, our most
important task will be to understand how these intellectuals have questioned, repudiated or resignified the relation between ManGod/Man-Man (in their historical and national contexts).
Our Rules
 DO NOT USE YOUR LAP-TOP OR OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICE TO TAKE NOTES IN CLASS DURING LESSON TIME.
 NO BATHROOM VISITS DURING EXAMS.
 Email exchanges between this class and the professor will take place exclusively through university email accounts. If
you like your public account better (yahoo, gmail, hotmail, etc.) make sure all correspondence is forwarded to that
domain automatically or you may miss important communication, assignments, changes in the schedule, etc.
 NO FOOD. NO TEXT-MESSAGING. CELLULAR PHONES MUST BE SILENCED during our lessons. Thank you.
Remember:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
We maintain a respectful, democratic, open-minded, tolerant atmosphere in our classroom. Everybody’s opinion, point of
view, comment is welcome. Disagreement with others’ points of view is also welcome, but it must be expressed with
intelligence and extreme respect for our colleagues’ freedom to think independently.
Students must attend lessons, read assigned material and do their homework. Deadlines CANNOT be missed.
Students are allowed 3 absences (of whatever nature): instructor will exact grade penalties (½ letter grade) for each
exceeding absence. (25% absence is automatic Failure.)
Thrice late = 1 absence.
You will not be allowed to take a test, if you enter the classroom late and your colleagues have already begun
working on the quiz or exam.
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6.
In case of absence, it is the student’s responsibility to get information about what was discussed in class, as well as
copies of hand-outs, and to be up-to-speed with new assignments. DO NOT WRITE TO ME TO ASK WHAT YOU MISSED
(OR WORSE “IF YOU MISS ANYTHING IMPORTANT”) WHILE YOU WERE ABSENT. Ask a colleague for help.
7. Plagiarism: “Intentionally representing the words, ideas, or sequence of ideas of another as one’s own in any academic
exercise; failure to attribute any of the following: quotations, paraphrases, or borrowed information” (definition from
Webster’s English Dictionary). You are responsible for understanding accepted definitions of plagiarism before the first
assignment is due. The general rule: if in doubt, ask.
If caught plagiarizing (no matter “how much”), students will Fail and report to the Dean.
Expectations
PARTICIPATION IS CRUCIAL. Your role will be a quite active and interactive one: you are expected to think, discuss, bring up
issues, teach to and learn from your colleagues. Your main task will be to read all the required texts. Your central duty will be
to talk about them in class. Reading and participation are expected and considered fundamental to each student’s success. The
emphasis is on critical thinking, analysis and oral exposition.
Short response papers are due every time a new text is read. These can not be longer than one page: I want to know what you
thought of a given autobiography, your impressions about characters, the “point” an author is trying to make, and especially how
it compares to previous texts read in this class. No handwritten notes: print it out; double space, justified, TimesNewRoman pt.
12.; don’t forget your name.
Quizzes and exams are extremely important factors: you will be tested on your ability to recognize, identify and contextualize a
literary work, to explain critical terms and specific terminology encountered during our discussions, and to write about literature
in a mature, deep, critical way. No make-up quizzes or exams.
Films and other visuals constitute a great part of my lectures and our discussions. You cannot leave the room while films or other
visual presentations are being shown; you should take notes, because questions about these cultural representations come up in
the quizzes and exams.
GRADE DISTRIBUTION
PARTICIPATION
QUIZZES + SHORT PAPERS
EXAM #1
EXAM #2
MIDTERM
FINAL
20%
15%
15%
15%
20%
15%
Objectives/Learning Outcomes
Through our readings, discussions, lectures and visual presentations students will:
- interpret texts in all their facets (literary, narrative, linguistic, historical, etc.);
- acquaint themselves with the main cultural and philosophical movements that have influenced and shaped Western
civilization from the Enlightenment to today, and how these are rooted in and connect back to the ancient biblical text and
its foundational stories;
- acquaint themselves with the Hebrew Bible (in English translation) and learn the main aspects of the biblical Judaic
tradition;
- learn to frame literary production in historical context;
- greatly improve their critical skills;
- raise interpretative questions regarding the Bible as literary text;
- raise interpretative questions regarding all modern texts assigned and relate modern elaborations of the Hebrew Bible
stories to their ancient inspirational sources.
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PRELIMINARY CALENDAR
January 2010
Monday
11 CLASSES BEGIN
Wednesday
18 Martin Luther King Jr. Day
NO CLASSES
20
ROBERT CRUMB Genesis
25
ROBERT CRUMB Genesis
27
ROBERT CRUMB (Conclusions)
VOLTAIRE Candide
13
SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE The
INTRODUCTION
Adventure of the Crooked Man (text on
Homework: Think of a work of art that bases itself Blackboard)
(implicitly or explicitly) on biblical stories: in two Homework: Research what are the main
paragraphs tell us which one it is and explain how differences
between
Jewish
and
it does it [bring it to class if possible]
Christian/Latin religious/biblical traditions—
come ready to discuss in class
February 2010
Monday
Wednesday
1
VOLTAIRE Candide
3
VOLTAIRE (Conclusions)
SØREN KIERKEGAARD Fear and
Trembling (handouts)
8
SØREN KIERKEGAARD (Conclusions)
MARY SHELLEY Frankenstein
10
EXAM
15 President's Day
MARY SHELLEY Frankenstein
17 Ash Wednesday
MARY SHELLEY Frankenstein
22 Washington's Birthday
LORD BYRON Cain (text on Blackboard)
24
LORD BYRON Cain
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March 2010
Monday
1 MIDPOINT IN SEMESTER
LORD BYRON Cain
th
Photo show of Romantic and 19 -c. art
about biblical stories
Wednesday
8
NO CLASS – SPRING BREAK
10
NO CLASS – SPRING BREAK
15
1- Lecture on Ashkenazi background
2- Exodus
3- SIGMUND FREUD Moses and
Monotheism (handouts)
17 St. Patrick's Day
SIGMUND FREUD Moses and
Monotheism (handouts)
22
SIGMUND FREUD (Conclusions)
CARL JUNG Answer to Job (handouts)
24
CARL JUNG Answer to Job
29
PESACH, FIRST SEDER
OUR CLASS IS CANCELED
31
JEROME ROTHENBERG Cokboy
MARY ANTIN The Promised Land
3
MIDTERM
April 2010
Monday
Wednesday
5
7
EXAM
MARY ANTIN The Promised Land
MARY ANTIN (Conclusions)
SARAH KOFMAN Rue Ordener, Rue Labat
12
14
Lecture and Video Screening: The XX
Century
SARAH KOFMAN Rue Ordener, Rue Labat
19
21
SARAH KOFMAN Rue Ordener, Rue
Labat
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., I See the
Promised Land (handouts);
BOB DYLAN & POP-CULTURE BIBLE
26 LAST DAY OF CLASS
28
CONCLUSIONS
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