Course Description: Fall, 2000
GRC 327E: "The Nobel Prize, Politics, and Literature"
SYLLABUS: FALL, 2000
WEEK 1: 31 August
THURS: Introduction to the course
WEEK 2: 5 and 7 September
TUES: Introduction to the Nobel Prize
"The Stockholm syndrome: is the Nobel a curse?," Walter Kirn
"Stockholm syndrome" (humor--Editorial)
"May the Best Author Win- Fat Chance," David Lehman
"The Nobels that Some Felt Weren't so Dynamite," Thomac Vinciguerra
"Prize and Prejudice," James Gibbs
"The Nobel Prize for Literature," Renee Winegarten
"Letter from Stockholm: The Nobel Syndrome," Michael Specter
"The Swedish Academy and the Nobel Prize in Literature," Williams Riggan
"The Liberary Legacy of Alfred Nobel," Ingmar Björkstén
FROM THE NOBEL FOUNDATION:
1. Nobel Writers and History
THURS: Günter Grass, Nobel statements
---, Cat and Mouse (in Danzig Trilogy)
WEEK 3: 12 and 14 September
TUES: The Tin Drum (1979). Director: Völker Schlöndorff
THURS: Günter Grass, The Tin Drum (in Danzig Trilogy), Book 1 (-p. 158)
WEEK 4: 19 and 21 September
TUES: Nadine Gordimer. Nobel statements
---. Burger's Daughter.
•PRECIS DUE: either Grass story
THURS: Nadine Gordimer. Burger's Daughter.
2. Confronting Mass Culture
WEEK 5: 26 and 28 September
TUES: Heinrich Böll, Nobel statements.
---, The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum.
•PRECIS DUE: Gordimer
THURS: Heinrich Böll, The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum.
WEEK 6: 3 and 5 October
TUES: Elias Canetti, Nobel statements
---. Auto-da-Fe., Part 1, 9-166, and "The Red Cock" (last chapter), 457-464(copy)
•PRECIS DUE: Böll
THURS:Canetti, Elias. Crowds & Power (excerpt; copy)
-"The Crowd," 15-90, and "The Pack," 93-124
WEEK 7: 10 and 12 October
TUES: Hermann Hesse, Nobel statements
---, Steppenwolf.
•PRECIS DUE: any Canetti text
THURS: Hermann Hesse, excerpt from The Glass Bead Game: Magister Ludi:
-"The Glass Bead Game: A General Introduction," -44
-Chapter 1: "The Call," 47-85
-Chapter 2: "Waldzell," 86-119
3. Ends of Worlds
WEEK 8: 17 and 19 October
TUES: Thomas Mann, Nobel statements
---, Death in Venice
•PRECIS DUE: either Steppenwolf or the "General Intro."
THURS: DAY OFF -- GO SEE MOVIES:
WEEK 9: 24 and 26 October
TUES: Thomas Mann, Death in Venice Dir. Luchino Visconti (film)
•FIRST SHORT PAPER DUE
THURS: Thomas Mann, Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family.
WEEK 10: 31 October and 2 November
TUES: Thomas Mann, Buddenbrooks, Parts 1-3, 3-166, and Part 11, 671-731
•PRECIS DUE: either Mann text ( one Part of Buddenbrooks), or film
4. Social Justice and Confronting Adversity
THURS: Selma Lagerlöf, Nobel statements
WEEK 11: 7 and 9 November
TUES: Selma Lagerlöf, Jerusalem. (all; copy)
---, The Holy City (Jerusalem II), 31-80 (copy)
THURS: Selma Lagerlöf, Jerusalem. Dir. Bille August (film)
WEEK 12: 14 and 16 November
TUES: Sigrid Undset, Nobel statements
---, Kristin Lavransdattar: The Wreath.
THURS: Sigrid Undset, Kristin Lavransdattar: The Wreath.
•ABSTRACT OF FINAL PAPER DUE
WEEK 13: 21 and 23 November
TUES:Knut Hamsun, Nobel statements
---, Hunger.
•REWRITE OF FIRST PAPER DUE
THURS: Thanksgiving
WEEK 14: 28 and 30 November
TUES Knut Hamsun, Hunger
"How I Won the Nobel Prize (for Naguib Mahfouz)," Kennett Love
•DISCUSSION TOPIC: compare the two translations (sections in copy package), in light of Love
THURS Gerhart Hauptmann, Nobel statements
---, The Weavers
WEEK 15: 5 and 7 December
TUES: Gerhart Hauptmann, The Weavers
THURS: last class
•FINAL PAPER DUE: Saturday, 16 December, at 7 pm
(the official exam day and time for this course)
Turn into my office; place under the door.