Instructor: Mary Campbell
Office: Williams Hall #420
Office hours: Wednesdays 9:30-11:00am
Email: [email protected] Seminar: 9:00-12:00am, Thursdays
Language requirements: Proficiency in Spanish required. Although the course will be conducted in English, some of the primary and secondary texts will be in Spanish.
<aside> 🤔 What is your story? What is your family’s story? How did you learn about it? Was it through stories, pictures, video? Who shared these memories with you? How do you think the way you learned about these events shaped not only your reaction to them, but your understanding of the events themselves? These are some of the questions that, to a great extent, fuel the research behind the study of history, memory and trauma and their representation. Thinking about how we as individuals, as particular communities, and as society as a whole engage and interact with the past, especially with its violent and traumatic aspects is, at its core, related to the media with which we transmit and engage with those stories. This course is designed to provide a first approach to the various theoretical discussions surrounding history, memory and trauma in literary studies as seen through intermediality. Through the study of intermedial literary texts (ranging from the touchstones within the field to more contemporary text) and intermedial theory, we will look at the productivity of the overlaps of these objects of study.
</aside>
<aside> đź“• All primary texts are required readings, so please allow for enough time to read them before class! I know that seeing lots of images can sometimes invite us to flip through them (we are all pressed for time, I know), but please pause, and take time to really look at them. This is part of what we will discuss during our course, but images are not only illustrations, they are as important as the written text!
</aside>
<aside> ⚠️ As you will notice, there are two options for our last class. I would like to offer you, as a class, the chance to choose between Teju Cole and Fazal Sheikh’s Human Archipelago and Toni Morrison’s Beloved. We will vote on September 19th (our fourth class)! Also, if any of you would like to work on the novel that isn’t chosen for your final paper, you may do so.
</aside>
| Title | Author | Year | Date Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maus Volumes I and II | Art Spiegelman | 1986-1991 | September 19, 2024 |
| The Emigrants | W. G. Sebald | 1992 | October 17, 2024 |
| Lengua Madre | MarĂa Teresa Andruetto | 2010 | October 31, 2024 |
| Conjunto VacĂo | VerĂłnica Gerber Bicecci | 2015 | November 14, 2024 |
| Human Archipelago | Teju Cole and Fazal Sheikh | 2018 | December 5, 2024 |
| Beloved | Toni Morrison | 1987 | December 5, 2024 |
<aside> 🗓️ I find that things make the most sense to me when woven into a narrative, which is why I have constructed a syllabus in which theory and literary texts coexist and lead us organically from one topic to another. This course schedule provides a thorough list of weekly topics, readings, and assignments. You can switch between views: All, Lessons, Assignments, and Calendar. Each week’s lesson description (click on “Open”) will include not only the readings but also a short description of the texts we will be working with. For each class, I have written a few guiding questions (highlighted in yellow) which are meant to orient not only our discussion but also your reading of the texts.
</aside>