Welcome to English 3193, World Literature, or more appropriately known as "Legends and Lore." This is a class that will explore the rich literary heritage of myth and legend that extends from the most ancient literature (Gilgamesh) to much later works that definitively changed how we learned to write about heroes and romance (Marie de France). The goal of this course is to understand why we keep telling the same stories with slightly new variations, and why the original templates are compelling enough to still mean something thousand of years later. From Homer to Star Wars, we can see many of the same heroes, heroines, villains, magicians, weapons, curses, and quests. So what does it all mean? And does every culture do the same things with the same material? We'll have to find out.
To quote one of the great legends of mythology and folklore, Joseph Campbell:
“Furthermore, we have not
even to risk the adventure alone; for the heroes of all time have gone before
us; the labyrinth is thoroughly known; we have only to follow the thread of the
hero-path. And where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god;
where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves; where we had
thought to travel outward, we shall come to the center of our own existence;
where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world” (Campbell, The
Hero With a Thousand Faces, 1956)
Be sure to buy the following books as soon as possible, since we'll start reading next week! They should all be available at the ECU bookstore and none of them are too expensive. Please let me know if you have any questions at my office (HM 348) or via e-mail at jgrasso@ecok.edu. See you on Monday!
Required Texts: The Epic of Gilgamesh (Penguin); The
Odyssey (Penguin); R.K. Narayan, The Ramayana (Penguin); The
Story of Hong Gildong (Penguin); The Saga of the Volgungs (Penguin);
Marie de France, Poetry (Norton)
No comments:
Post a Comment