Admission requirements
A relevant BA degree. If in doubt, please contact the tutor.
Description
In this course we will read Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey (in translation), and study part of the most recent history of their Nachleben, namely, the various ways of appropriation of these poems by American, Australian, Canadian, and British poets and novelists in the twenty-first century, and the variety of approaches to Homer’s work which made this appropriation possible, such as Modernism, Postmodernism, postcolonialism and gender studies. We will also (literally) have a look at two film adaptations of Homer’s work, viz. by the Coen Brothers (O Brother, Where Art Thou) and Wolfgang Petersen (Troy).
Course objectives
Based on the assumption that participants have already acquired the basic skills for the analysis of literary (and visual) texts, this course aims to extend these skills both in terms of textual analysis (close reading) and contextual approach (cultural-historical as well as theoretical). Students will be encouraged to share analytical and theoretical views on the texts ascribed in class discussion including short presentations, and to focus research skills on a relevant subject of their own choice within the parameters of the course in the form of a final research paper.
Timetable
Timetable on the website.
Mode of instruction
2-hour seminar per week
Course Load
The course load is 280 hours:
26 hours of tutorial
195 hours of reading primary and secondary material, and preparing the brief presentation
59 hours for research and writing of the research paper.
The hours above are an approximate calculation only. Some students read fast and write slow and vice versa.
Assessment method
Evaluation of this course will be on the basis of participation in class discussion + an oral presentation (30% of final mark) and of a written paper of ca. 5,000 words (70% of final mark).
A sufficient grade (6.0 or higher) for both the presentation and the final paper is required for completion of the course.
If the final grade is 5 or less students may only resit the final paper. Attendance is compulsory. Unauthorized absence will mean that you will fail to get credits for the course.
Blackboard
Blackboard will be used to provide students with an overview of current affairs, as well as specific information about (components of) the course.
Reading list
The following list of texts need to be purchased and studied:
-Homer, The Iliad, trl. Robert Fagles, 1990
-Homer, The Odyssey, trl. Robert Fagles, 1996
-Christopher Logue, War Music, London: Faber, 2001 (the Faber edition which contains the trilogy War Music, The Husbands, and Kings; ; also available now in a 2015 Faber edition War Music: An Account of Homer’s Iliad)
-Elizabeth Cook, Achilles, London: Methuen, 2001
-David Malouf, )_Ransom_, London: Chatto & Windus, 2009
-Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles, London etc.: Bloomsbury, 2011
-Alice Oswald, Memorial, London: Faber and Faber, 2011
-Margaret Atwood, The Penelopiad, Edinburgh: Canongate, 2005
-Simon Armitage, The Odyssey, London: Faber, 2006
-Zachary Mason, The Lost Books of the Odyssey, London: Jonathan Cape, 2010
-film: Coen Brothers, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?, 2000
-film: Wolfgang Petersen, Troy, 2007
-Texts in Blackboard.
Registration
Students need to register in uSis for classes, exams and final papers.
When registering students of the MA Literary studies take priority. The deadline for registration is August 15. All other students should contact the coordinator of studies: Jurjen Donkers
Contact information
For questions about the content of the course, you can contact the teacher: dhr. Prof.dr. P.T.M.G. Liebregts.
Administration Office: Van Wijkplaats
Coordinator of Studies: Jurjen Donkers.
Remarks
N.a.