Călin-Andrei Mihăilescu
Professor of Comparative Literature, Spanish, and Critical Theory at the University of Western Ontario

 

The Grotesque

(CLC 120G) Jan. – Apr. 2008 

Lectures: Tue. 12:30-2:30 (PAB 215); Th. 1:30-2:30 (PAB 137) 

Instructor: Călin Mihăilescu (cmihails@uwo.ca; tel. 661-2111 ext. 85862)

Teaching Assistant: Yaocí Pardo-Domínguez (ypardodo@uwo.ca)  

Course Description 

The course follows the embodiments of grotesque imagination in literature and the arts from the antiquity up to the twentieth century. A loosely defined category, the grotesque may be understood as a field of expression whose limits are humor and horror, as well as the fantastic and the realistic. 

Syllabus 

Jan. 8 (2 hours) Introduction

Jan. 10 (1 hour) Kafka, “The Hunger Artist”

Jan. 15 (2)  Kafka, “The Hunger Artist” and “The Metamorphosis”

                  Art: Georg Grosz and other Expressionists

Jan. 17 (1)  Kafka, “The Metamorphosis”

Jan. 22 (2)  Kafka, “The Metamorphosis” & Walter Benjamin, “Some

                  Reflections on Kafka”(course package; thereafter CP: 21-23)

                  Art: Goya’s Caprichos; Picasso’s Tauromachies

Jan. 24 (1)  Apuleius, The Golden Ass

Jan. 29 (2)  Apuleius, The Golden Ass

                  Wolfgang Kayser, The Grotesque in Art and Literature

                  (13-28; in CP: 1-17)

                  Art: Antique grotesqueries

Jan. 31 (1)  Rabelais, from Gargantua and Pantagruel, and M.M.

                  Bakhtin, from Rabelais and his World (CP: 59-62; 63-95)

Feb. 5 (2)  Rabelais, from Gargantua and Pantagruel, and M.M.

                  Bakhtin, from Rabelais and his World (CP: 59-62; 63-95)

                  Art: Renaissance grotesqueries

Feb. 7 (1)  Baudelaire, “The Essence of Laughter” (CP: 123-141)

Feb. 12 (2)  Nikolai Gogol, “The Nose” (CP: 97-122)

                  Art: Honoré Daumier and caricature in the 19th century

Feb. 14 (1)  Edward Lear, from The Complete Nonsense (CP: 143-156)

                  Art: Lear and other non-sensicals

Feb. 19 (2)   E.T.A. Hoffmann - “The Sandman” and E.A. Poe, “The

                  Black Cat” (CP: 25-27; 179-185)

                  Art: Medieval and Romantic grotesqueries

Feb. 21 (1)  E.A. Poe, “The Black Cat” and “The Imp of the Perverse” (CP:

                  179-192)

Mar. 4 (2)  H.P. Lovecraft, “Herbert West – reanimator” and “The

                  Dunwhich Horror” (CP: 193-231)

                  Kayser, The Grotesque in Art and Literature (CP)

                  Art: Aubrey Beardsley

Mar. 6 (1)  August Strindberg, “The Ghost Sonata” (CP: 157-177)

Mar. 11 (2)  Gustav Meyrinck, The Golem

Mar. 13 (1)  Meyrinck, The Golem

Mar. 18 (2)  M. Bulgakov, Master and Margarita

                  Art: Soviet Socialist Realism

Mar. 20 (1)  M. Bulgakov, Master and Margarita

Mar. 25 (2)  M. Bulgakov, Master and Margarita

                  Art: Komar, Melamid and post-communist Russian humor

Mar. 27 (1)  Bruno Schulz, “The Street of Crocodiles” and

                  “Cockroaches” (CP: 233-239)

Apr. 1 (2)  J.L. Borges, “Brodie’s Report,” “There are More

                  Things...,” and “Shakespeare’s Memory” (CP: 241-254)

Apr. 3 (1)  J.L. Borges

                  Art: Francis Bacon

Apr. 8 (2)  Kayser, The Grotesque in Art and Literature (CP: 19)

                  Grotesque scene in recent films

Apr. 10 (1)  Concluding remarks 
 

Course Requirements

A. Class Participation (20%)

As part of the grade for participation, students are expected to participate in class discussions and complete possible on-the-spot quizzes.

Notes on attendance: Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class. If you have a legitimate reason to miss class (sickness, family crisis, religious holiday), please contact me beforehand so that we can arrange for you to make up any missed material. Missed classes and/or lack of class participation can add up and adversely affect your class participation grade.

B. First Paper (15%): 3-4 pages, due in class on Feb. 21st.

Topics will be handed out two weeks before the due date. In case you would want to write the paper on a topic of your choice, please consult with the Professor or the Teaching Assistant ahead of time.

C. Paper (25%): 6-8 pages, due in class on April 3rd.

The paper is to be written on a topic of your choice. All students are expected to have their topics approved during office hours. It would be a good idea to begin thinking about the final paper as early as possible in the semester.

D. Final Exam (40%) will consist of identification- and essay questions. 

Required Texts

Apuleius, The Golden Ass

Mikhail Bulgakov, Master and Margarita

Franz Kafka, Stories

Gustav Meyrinck, The Golem

“The Grotesque,” Course Package