Syllabus and Schedule

STUDIES IN MODERN LITERATURE MAGIC REALISM AND SURREALISM English 265-1 Fall 2003		Jeff Gundy Centennial Hall 318 3283/358-5425 gundyj@bluffton.edu
René Magritte, The Treachery [or Treason] of Images, 1928-9.	The universe (which others call the library) is composed of an indefinite and perhaps infinite number of hexagonal galleries, with vast air shafts between, surrounded by very low railings. . . . In the hallway there is a mirror which faithfully duplicates all appearances. Men usually infer from this mirror that the Library is not infinite . . . I prefer to dream that its polished surfaces represent and promise the infinite . . . -Jorge Luis Borges, “The Library of Babel”

Art must recreate, in full consciousness, and by means of signs, the total life of the universe, that is to say, the soul where the varied dream we call the universe is played.       -Teodor de Wyzewa, 1886		Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to remember ice. . . . -Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude (1970)
"I believe in the future resolution of these two states--outwardly so contradictory--which are dream and reality, into a sort of absolute reality, a surreality." -Andre Breton, Surrealist Manifesto, 1924	"When I woke up, the dinosaur was still there." -A complete short story by Augusto Monterroso	But you sit at your window when evening falls and dream it to yourself.              -Franz Kafka

This course will explore some of the most intriguing and challenging fiction and poetry of the twentieth century: works that expand, broaden and deepen what we think of as "real." The subtitle is "magic realism and surrealism," but some of our reading will bend even those broad categories. As we read fiction and poetry by major writers from all over the world, we will attempt to understand their structures, themes, and development. But even more important, we will try to experience them as art as fully as we can, to immerse ourselves in the ongoing process of evoking the "total life of the universe."

TEXTS:

Jerome Rothenberg and Pierre Joris, eds. Poems for the Millenium.

David Young and Keith Hollaman, eds. Magical Realist Fiction.

Erich Heller, ed. The Basic Kafka.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Jorge Luis Borges, Labyrinths.

Readings will include goodly portions of the two anthologies, sizeable selections from Kafka and Borges, and all of One Hundred Years of Solitude. There may be some additional handouts. Other major activities, which must be completed to receive full credit for the course, will include:

1. A reading journal of your responses, ideas, and questions about each day's readings and class activities. This day-to-day writing will be in lieu of more formal assignments, except for the final project. Journal entries must be emailed to me at gundyj@bluffton.edu by 10:00 a.m. each class day. Use your Bluffton College email address for this activity and all others related to this course. We will often make use of your responses in class, in a variety of ways.

If you haven't done this sort of journal writing, here are some suggestions. A good journal often begins with subjective, personal response (I liked this, I didn't understand that, etc.) but doesn't end there. Journals are a way of thinking in writing, of using the act of writing as a way of processing what you've experienced in your reading, moving from your first and often tentative reactions to more developed, organized, thoughtful response. If the reading is confusing or perplexing, as will sometimes occur this quarter, try working through that confusion in your journal: ask just what it is creates the uncertainty or confusion, see if you can frame questions you'd like to have answered, then try to pose tentative answers for those questions. If you aren't sure what to write about, pick one small part of the text that particularly struck you, and concentrate on that. You may also compare the material with other texts you've read, discuss associations with your own experience that the text brings back to you, examine questions of style, form, character, plot, imagery, theme . . .

I don't expect well-formed, complete essays in these journals. Nor do I expect that everyone will reach similar conclusions or write about the same issues or agree with me. All I ask is that you read carefully and then spend some time thinking just as carefully on the page about what you've read. If you do, you'll be well prepared for class, and we'll have some great discussions.

2. A mid-term exam and a cumulative final.

3. A major project which may be one of two kinds: a. An 8-12 page research project on a topic related to the course. b. A 12-20 creative project--poetry or fiction in a magic realist or surrealist mode, perhaps modeled after a specific author. Either project may be submitted on paper or as a web page/site--more details will follow. Whichever option you choose, I will ask you to write a proposal (due in mid-October), produce a draft by mid-November for critique and revision, and then revise and resubmit the project near the end of the term. You will also make a brief report on your project to the class.

4. Thorough preparation and active participation in discussion are necessary. Regular attendance is also necessary; absence will cause your grade for the course to be lowered.

Grades will be based on these factors:

Journal: 25%

Mid-term: 20%

Project: 20%

Project Presentation 5%

Final Exam: 25%

Attendance/participation: 5%

100%

Like all aspects of life at Bluffton, this course takes place under the Honor System. We will discuss the particulars of plagiarism along the way. For now, two reminders: all use of sources must be credited clearly, and research and writing done for this course must not be used for another course without the prior consent of both instructors. Depending on their severity, violations may result in lowered grades, failing the course, or expulsion. If you have questions about proper use of sources, I will always be glad to discuss them.

Schedule

In the spirit of many of the authors we will encounter, and the general postmodern mistrust of notions of linear time, we will refuse to be bound by the constraints of chronology. We will begin with some of the magical realist stories from Magical Realist Fiction, read Borges and One Hundred Years of Solitude, and then turn to dada, surrealism and related texts in the second half of the course.

Tentative Schedule

Week 1 8/25 Course introduction	Magical Realist Fiction Mann	Gogol
Week 2 9/1 Rilke, Babel	Schultz, Nabokov	Michaux
Week 3 9/8 Bombal, Paz	Cortazar, Lispector	Carpentier
Week 4 9/15 Fuentes	Garcia Marquez 100 Years of Solitude	100 Years
Week 5 9/22 100 Years	100 Years	Borges
Week 6 9/29 Borges	Borges	Midterm Exam
Week 7 10/6 Fall Break	Poems for the Millennium Forerunners	Forerunners
Week 8 10/13 First Gallery	First Gallery	Futurism
Week 9 10/20 Dada	Dada	Dada
Week 10 10/27 Second Gallery	Thanksgiving Break	Thanksgiving
Week 11 11/3 Second Gallery	Surrealism	Surrealism
Week 12 11/10 Surrealism	Surrealism	Third Gallery
Week 13 11/17 Third Gallery	Third Gallery	The Basic Kafka Kafka
Week 14 11/24 Kafka	Kafka	Kafka
Week 15 12/1 Project Reports	Project Reports	Project Reports