FYSM 137 - Despots,Deserts & Harems

Institution:

Trinity College

Subject:

Description:

Why, when we think of the Middle East, do we think of a far off- land with despots, deserts and harems, a land as Robin Williams croons in Disney's "Aladdin" that's "barbaric, but, hey, it's home " Is this truly the Middle East Or is there some other element at play, an element that claims to begin with fact - the Middle East as it really is, the Middle East unveiled - but by the time it is done, portrays the Middle East once again in comfortable, alluring, exotic and erotic fiction How do we account for this persistent distortion Is it willful or unintentional Is it indelibly ingrained or is it surmountable Can we ever know something like it "really is" or are we forever doomed to spin tales that tell us more about our own latent desires and hidden shortcomings than they do about the places we claim to portray And finally, what ends does this distortion serve In this seminar we will examine European and American cultural representations of the Middle East and the political and financial structures that support them from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Through art, novels, film, music and journalism we will examine the vortex where culture, politics and money collide, where the potent brew of knowledge and power conjures illusions of dominance and impotency. The material we will use ranges from the Boris Karloff film classic "The Mummy" (1932) to The Rock's ultra-campy "The Scorpion King" (2002); from Rimsky-Korsakov's "Sheherazade" (1888) to Sting's "Desert Rose" (2000); from the romantic oil paintings of Delacroix (d.1863) to Cindy Sherman's (b.1954) garishly staged photography; and from nineteenth century travel brochures to contemporary big-money travel magazines. Finally we will look at journalistic trends across the twentieth century from the pseudo-scientific National Geographic to the bombastic Fox News Network. Each of these genres of representation will be approached as vehicles for spreading knowledge about a distant place and will be analyzed through theoretical frameworks that will encourage you to place them in their broader historical and political contexts. The seminar will include mandatory weekend film screenings and off-campus trips. 1.00 units, Seminar

Credits:

1.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.Trincoll.edu

Phone Number:

(860) 297-2000

Regional Accreditation:

New England Association of Schools and Colleges

Calendar System:

Semester

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