ENGL 20145 - Love and Memory in Literature

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

English

Description:

This course will explore connections between the themes of love and memory, especially remembrance of the dead, in English and American literature. From the ghost of Hamlet's father with its plea of "Remember me" to the lost child in Toni Morrison's Beloved, the living are haunted by their memories of the dead and by the knowledge that they too will die and either survive in or vanish from human memory. Why do we, as individuals and as a culture, turn to novels, plays, and poetry to preserve or come to terms with our memories of those who have died? Can these forms of memory help us to keep-devouring time- at bay or come to terms with mortality? How are the varied literary expressions of human love shaped by concerns about memory and loss? How have writers sought to make others or themselves remembered by future generations of readers? We will consider these questions in novels, plays, and poems, including works by John Donne, John Milton, Emily Brontë, and W.H. Auden, as well as Shakespeare and Morrison. In pursuing the theme of memory, the course will encourage students to explore how later writers remember and transform the traditions of their forebears.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nd.edu

Phone Number:

(574) 631-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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