NB. DRAFT SYLLABUS

Epic Travel: From Text to Road Movie

CPLS BC 3155y (Comp Lit.)

At the heart of this course is an inquiry into the tension between duty and adventure, as well as into the literary and cinematographic means by which that tension is expressed. We will explore this tension by reading and watching fictional(ized) journeys in order to ask how our movement through space relates either to destiny (and epic) or to Wanderlust (and romance). Who controls the journey? Who owns the spaces through which we travel? How do texts and films appropriate, capture, or reconfigure these spaces? How does fictional space relate to ‘real’ space? Does a character make a journey because of who he/she is? Or does the journey create the character? How does travel function to bring together the personal and private with the collective and public? Can a private journey relate to a collective, even national, trajectory? Each text/film will be approached from within its specific historical/literary context, but the goal is to seek out and understand connections between works, both concrete and theoretical. The aim is to develop a critical understanding of (1) the relationship between two genres: epic and romance, both of which very often narrate journeys; and (2) how the opposition between duty and adventure relates the personal to the public (i.e. political, in the wide sense).

Texts:

The English translations of the following works have been ordered through Book Culture (536 W 112th Street). You may also purchase books online etc. [Information is also provided below about original-language editions.]

Virgil, The Aeneid / Aeneid (c. 19BC) [Eng. Trans. Allen Mandelbaum. New York: Bantam Classics, 2004; Latin. Loeb Classical Library 63 and 64, Cambridge : HUP, 2004.]

Chrétien de Troies, Lancelot, The Knight of the Cart / Lancelot, le chevalier de la charette (c. 1177-1181) [Eng. Trans. Owen, D. D. R, Arthurian Romances. London : Everyman, 1997. Fr. Paris: Livre de Poche (Lettres Gothiques), 1992.]

Luiz Vaz de Camões, The Lusiads / Os Lusíadas (1572) [Eng. Trans. Landeg White. New York: OUP Oxford World Classics, 2001; Port. Mem Martins, Portugal: Pulicações Europa-América, 2002.]

Ronsard, The Franciad / La Franciade (1572) (extracts) [Fr. and Eng. extracts will be provided in class.]

Aphra Behn, Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave (1688) [London: Penguin Classics, 2004]

Voltaire, Candide (1759) [Eng. Trans. John Butt. London: Penguin Classics, 1947. Fr. Paris: Gallimard (La bibliothèque), 2000.]

James Joyce, Ulysses (1922) (extracts). [New York : Vintage International, 1990]

Films:

A public viewing will be organized for each film which you are strongly encouraged to attend. One copy of each film (except Easy Rider) is available for on-site viewing at the Media Services desk on the third floor of Barnard’s library. Most films are also available from stores or through services such as Netflix etc.

Victor Fleming, The Wizard of Oz (1939) [PS3503.A923 W59 2005g] (DVD)

Ingmar Bergman, Wild Strawberries / Smultronstället (1957) [DVD PN1997 .S577 2002g] (DVD)

Jean-Luc Godard, Contempt / Le mépris (1963) [DVD PQ4829 .M432 2002g] (DVD)

Joseph Strick, Ulysses (1967) [DVD PR6019.O9 U4 2000g] (DVD)

Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) [DVD PN1995.9.S26 T8 2001g] (DVD)

Dennis Hopper, Easy Rider (1969) [not at Barnard library]

Francis Ford Coppola, Apocalypse Now (1979) [DVD DS557.73 .A663 2001g] (DVD) (Make sure to watch Apocalypse Now and not Apocalypse Now Redux]

Ridley Scott, Thelma and Louise (1991) [DVD PN1997 .T4177 2003g] (DVD)

Ridley Scott, 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992) [DVD PN1997 .F675 2001g] (DVD)