ENGL 218 - Forms of Violence

Institution:

Williams College

Subject:

English

Description:

"It seems that the appetite for pictures showing bodies in pain is almost as keen as the desire for ones that show bodies naked." When Susan Sontag made this claim she was referring to photographs. She could just as well have been talking about poetry or film. In this course we will consider stories, plays and movies that take up, in one way or another, the problem of aestheticized cruelty. We will ask how art might help us to understand various forms of violence--domestic, random, state-sponsored--and how violence may help us to understand art. Works to be studied will include: Oedipus, The Bacchae, Othello, Orson Welles's A Touch of Evil, and David Russell's Three Kings. We will also read stories and novels by Raymond Carver, Alice Munro, and J.M. Coetzee.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

A 100-level English course, or a score of 5 on the AP Exam in English Literature or a 6 or 7 on the International Baccalaureate

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Seminar

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.williams.edu

Phone Number:

(413) 597-3131

Regional Accreditation:

New England Association of Schools and Colleges

Calendar System:

Four-one-four plan

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