ENGL 40762 - Black Milk and Heart-Shaped Boxes: The Grotesque in Modern Art, Literature, Music and Film

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

English

Description:

Since the Renaissance - when ancient underground rooms were discovered beneath Rome with walls covered in scandalous depictions of human-animal hybrids - the grotesque has been a controversial presence in the various arts. In this class we're going to look and listen to examples of the grotesque, from German Expressionist sleepwalkers to Goth singers with smeared mascara, from Kafka's man-who-becomes-an-insect and hunger artist to Kurt Cobain's starved body with a "mosquito" for a "libido," from Alfred Hitchcock's shattering swarms of cinematic birds to the violent fairytales of David Lynch, from Kara Walker's unsettling silhouettes from Antebellum South to Matthew Barney's body-as-spectacle, from Surrealism's "exquisite corpses" to the Rodarte fashion shows of burnt dresses, from Sylvia Plath's suicide sideshow to Lady Gaga's sensational masques. We will also consider various theoretical frameworks for the grotesque. Course work will write one short paper and one longer, research-based paper.

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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