Admission requirements
Admission to the MA Literary Studies, research master Literary Studies, research master Arts, Literature and Media and the two-year educational master in English from ICLON.
Description
This seminar focuses on the power of art to give form to human life via the multiple masks of one of the most influential and transgressive modern English writers: Oscar Wilde (1854-1900). A novelist and playwright, story-teller and poet, journalist and public personality, critic and queer theorist avant la lettre, Wilde not only anticipated many contemporary debates in literary criticism and theory on subjects as diverse as gender, sexuality, the unconscious, power, prison-rights, and performativity; he also contributed to opening up the field of mimetic studies as he argued that “Life imitates Art, perhaps more than Art imitates Life.” In this seminar we will unpack the multiple ways in which life imitates art by analyzing some of Wildes’ most influential texts—from The Picture of Dorian Gray to The Importance of Being Earnest to De Profundis—stretching to include cinematic adaptations of these and other works.
Course objectives
By the end of the course students will have obtained:
Training in analyzing a plurality of aesthetic genres (short story, novel, play, essay, film) linked to Oscar Wilde;
A critical understanding of the multiple meanings of the Greek concept of “mimēsis” (including imitation, doubling, identification, performance) central to the new field of mimetic studies;
Knowledge of a number of critics and theorists connected to Wilde;
The ability to develop an independent research question connecting literary, theoretical, and cinematic texts;
Critical and theoretical concepts to connect art, subjectivity, and society;
Analytical skills practiced in both in an oral presentations and written assignments.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
- Seminar
Assessment method
Assessment
Active class participation and 4 contributions to the discussion board (10%)
One oral presentation: 20%
A mid-term paper(1500 words): 30 %
A final paper (2000 words): 40%
For the Research Master students, one of the two written asignments should be a longer paper (3,000 words), which should show a more substantial theoretical reflection on the topic and critical engagement with the secondary literature.
Weighing
The final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average. To pass the course, the weighted average of the partial grades must be 5.5 or higher.
Resit
Students who fail the course can submit a revised version of their research essay if their essay grade is at least a 5. If their essay grade is lower than a 5, they must write a new research essay on a new topic.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
The booktitles and / or syllabi to be used in the course, where it can be purchased and how this literature should be studied beforehand.
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray. 3rd Norton Critical Edition, ed. Michael Patrick Gillespie. W. W. Norton & Company, 2006.
Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest. Norton Critical Edition, ed. Michael Patrick Gillespie. W. W. Norton & Company, 2020.
Oscar Wilde, De Profundis and Other Prisons Writings. Penguin Books, 2013.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Arsenaal.
Remarks
N.A.