|
|
|
||
|
READING JAMES JOYCE’S FINNEGANS WAKE (Spring 2021, Wed 12.30-14.00)
David Vichnar, PhD (Consultation hours: by appointment, Room 219b)
Optional M.A. Course Special Programme in Irish Cultural Studies Department of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures Faculty of Arts (Room C049), Charles University
COURSE DESCRIPTION & SYLLABUS The course will attempt a close reading of James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake side by side with exegetic and critical material. Departing from detailed explorations, in previous seminars, of Joyce’s “day book” Ulysses and some of the techniques employed there (mythological method, interior monologue, stream of consciousness, cinematic flashback & flash-forward, montage, discursive collage, etc.), the course will focus on his “night book”, arguably the experimental text to emerge from the interwar avant-garde scene, and yet one whose avant-garde affiliation remains a highly problematic one. By means of focusing on particular passages from across the whole book and exploring some of their famous techniques (the pun & the portmanteau, multilingualism, the sigla, the acrostic, textual recycling & circularity, the coincidence of the narrative "character" with the written "character", etc.) the course will consider how Joyce’s radical experiment revolutionised the novel genre and the potential of his "revolution of the word" for further critical thinking on the materiality of language.
Feb 17 Introduction: Joyce’s “Work in Progress” / Finnegans Wake
Feb 24 I.1 – “Finnegan’s Wake”: 4.18-8.8; 15.28-18.16; 21.5-close
Mar 3 I.2 – “The Humphriad I”: 34.30-38.8; 44.7-close I.3 – “The Humphriad II”: 58.23-61.27
Mar 10 I.3 – “The Humphriad II”: 67.7-69.29 I.4 – “The Humphriad III”: 76.10-78.14; 85.20-86.31; 101-103
Mar 17 I.5 – “The Mamafesta”: 107.8-114.20; 119.10-close
Mar 24 I.6 – “The Quiz”: 126; 139.13-143.28; 152.4-159.23; 161.15-168.12
Mar 31 I.7 – “Shem the Penman”
Apr 7 I.8 – “Anna Livia Plurabelle”
Apr 14 II.1 – “Nightgames”: 244-close II.2 – “Nightlessons”: 278.7-281.29; 293-close
Apr 21 II.3 – “Tales at the Inn”: 309-311.4; 323.25-325.12; 337.4-355.7 II.4 – “Tristan and Isolde” / “Mamalujo”
Apr 28 III.1 – “Shaun”: 413.16-419.10; 419.11-426.4 III.2 – “Jaun”: 429-431.20; 445.26-448.33; 470-close
May 5 III.3 – “Yawn”: 477.3-480.36; 491.26-496.22; 526.20-528.24, 532-536 III.4 – “Dawn”: 555-558.31; 565-571; 576-579
May 12 IV.1 – Ricorso FURTHER INFORMATION
Covid-19 provisions In view of the current situation connected to the COVID-19 pandemic in Czechia, the seminar will quite probably start taking place via an online platform (preferably Zoom), and only if/when developments permitting will it transition to in-person teaching. The same participation and assessment rules will remain in place.
Online sources Of indispensable value will be the full annotated text at http://www.finwake.com. Students are encouraged to consult this both ahead of and in class. Of use will also be the James Joyce Scholars’ Collection at UWDC, containing some out-of-print classics of FW scholarship (incl. the First-Draft version of the Wake), accessible here: http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/JoyceColl/Browse.html
Course reader All the primary & secondary reading will be available from the faculty Moodle system for the students to study at their leisure, as voluntary enrichment of the class’s group discussions, which will always focus on the primary readings, excerpted as specified in the syllabus. Students are strongly encouraged to consult the reader while researching for final papers.
Mailing list posting A mandatory part of your active participation in the course will be a weekly email posting to the instructor with your individual critical response, which should address next week’s reading, highlighting a particular insight, or trouble, or point of interest, or any other issue that you wish to be addressed. Your email response (of 200-300 words) needs to be sent to the instructor no later than Sunday noon, in order to allow some time for its processing ahead of next class. The instructor will circulate all of the week’s responses ahead of the class so you will have the chance to familiarise yourself with your classmate’s insights. N.B. The departmental zero-tolerance policy on plagiarism will apply to these postings.
Final paper The final seminar paper shall ideally have the scope around 2,500 words (for non-graded paper/zápočet) – it is enough to perform a close-reading of a FW theme/motif. Should the student wish to apply for the graded paper/zkouška credit, s/he is expected to write a paper of approx. 4,000 words, with a focus on a theoretical engagement with the Wake. Written assignments will be due by 16 June 2021. Individual deadline extensions are possible, but need to be discussed with the lecturer in reasonable advance. Students are encouraged to discuss their final paper topics, bibliography, etc. with the lecturer ahead of the end of the course. Formal Requirements: email submission ONLY (pdf format, name of file: student surname); double-spaced; MLA-style formatting (footnotes rather than endnotes/in-text notes); title page with student & course & lecturer name, word count included.
Credit Students will be given their credit for presence at minimum 10 sessions (of 13 total) and active participation in at least 10 email postings (50%), as well as their final paper (50%). N.B. Due to Departmental policy, Erasmus students are ONLY allowed to enroll for the non-graded paper (for which they can, should their home university demand it, consequently receive a grade).
Poslední úprava: Znojemská Helena, Mgr., Ph.D. (01.07.2021)
|
|
||
|
seminář Poslední úprava: Znojemská Helena, Mgr., Ph.D. (01.07.2021)
|