Homer/Ellison: <a href="/keyword/the-odyssey/" >the odyssey</a> and Invisible Man K20.1515 Fall 2008 Gallatin School of Individualized Study, New York University Professor Laura Slatkin Office : 715 Broadway, Room 505 1238Office hours: M 2-3, Tu 2-3 and by appt. 212-998-7363 Professor e. Frances White Office: Bobst Library, Room Office hours: By appointment 212-992-2192 [e-mail] [e-mail] Marcus Harvey Teaching Assistant [e-mail] Office hours: By appointment Why would a radical novel on twentieth century race evoke ancient texts? What does the ancient world have to say to the modern novel/world? How might modernity reanimate a key text of antiquity, and vice versa? This course creates a dialogue between Homer s Odyssey and Ralph Ellison s Invisible Man, pursuing the synergies and energies promoted by reading them together. In exploring the cross-cultural and trans-historical enrichings each work may offer the other, we will address such questions as: what it means to be human, why one might think of oneself as invisible, and who gets to create narratives. In addition to our key texts we will read secondary literature from several disciplines (history, social theory, critical race theory, literary criticism see below). SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNMENTS September 8 September 15 Problems And Perspectives: Identity, Visibility, Narrative Learning the Cities of Men Readings: Odyssey Books 1-5 Martin, R. Epic as Genre in Blackwell s Companion to Ancient Epic ed. J.M. Foley (Oxford: 2005) pp. 9-18; Vernant, J-P. The Refusal of Odysseus in Reading <a href="/keyword/the-odyssey/" >the odyssey</a> ed. S. L. Schein (Berkeley: 1996) pp. 185-189 [Bb] September 22 Natural Order, Social Order Readings: Odyssey Books 6-12 Horkheimer, M. and T. Adorno, Odysseus or Myth and Enlightenment Ch. 2 in Dialectic of Enlightenment (Stanford: 2002), ed. G. Noerr, transl. E. Jephcott (originally published as Dialektik der Aufkl rung, Frankfurt, 1st edition 1947, 2nd edition 1969) pp. 35-62 [Bb] September 29 The Political Economy Of Homecoming: Estrangement And Recognition Readings: Odyssey Books 13-18 Rose, P., Sons of the Gods, Children of Earth (Ithaca: 1992) pp. 98-112 [Bb]; Murnaghan, S. The Plan of Athena in The Distaff Side ed. B. Cohen (Oxford: 1995) pp 61-80. [Bb] October 6 The Bow And The Bed: Violence, Fidelity, Visibility Readings: Odyssey Books 19-24 Felson, N. and L. Slatkin, Gender and Homeric Epic. The Cambridge Companion to Homer. Ed. Fowler, R., (Cambridge University Press: 2004) pp.91-93, 103-114. Cambridge Collections Online. http://cco.cambridge.org/uid=8789/extract?result_number=1&amp;sea rch_scope=collection&amp;query=laura+slatkin&amp;id=ccol0521813026_C COL0521813026A010&amp;collection_id=complete&amp;collection_id=litera ture&amp;collection_id=philosophy-and-religion October 13 October 20 HOLIDAY, NO CLASS! The Epic, the Novel, and Film Reading: Bakhtin, M. Epic and the Novel, Ch. 1 in The Dialogic Imagination (Austin TX: 1982) ed. M. Holquist, transl. C. Emerson and M. Holquist (originally published as Voprosy literatury i estetiki, Moscow: 1975) pp. 3-40 2 In class viewing of the Coen brothers film O Brother, Where Art Thou? October 27 Invisibility, Hypervisibility and the Unexamined Readings: Invisible Man, Prologue and Chapter 1 Chambers, Ross The Unexamined. Whiteness: A Critical Reader, Ed. M. Hill. (New York: 1997) pp. 187-203. OCTOBER 29 **SPECIAL EVENING EVENT: PREMIERE PERFORMANCE OF ELLEN MCLAUGHLIN'S &quot;PENELOPE&quot; IN GALLATIN'S JERRY LABOWITZ THEATER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS. WE WILL PROVIDE TICKETS! November 3 Race and Ideology Readings: Invisible Man, Chapters 2-7 Louis Althusser, Ideology and Ideological State Apparatus: notes toward an investigation. Lenin and Philosophy other essays. (New York: Monthly Review Press, 2001) pp. 85-126. [Bb] November 10 Harlem is Nowhere Readings: Invisible Man, Chapters 8-13 Wilson Jeremiah Moses, Marcus Moziah Garvey: The Realist as Romantic. Creative Conflict in African American Thought. (Cambridge: 2004) http://ezproxy.library.nyu.edu:6305/lib/nyulibrary/Top?%3Fnos r=1&amp;id=10131608&amp;layout=document November 17 O Brotherhood, Where Art Thou? Readings: Invisible Man, Chapters 14-20 Allen Anderson, Paul. Ralph Ellison s Music Lessons. The Cambridge Companion to Ralph Ellison. ed. R. Posnock. (Cambridge: 2005) Cambridge Online. November 24 The Woman Question 3 Readings: Invisible Man, Chapter 21 Epilogue Claudia Tate, Notes on the Invisible Woman in Ralph Ellison s InvisibleMan, Speaking for You: The Vision of Ralph Ellison [Bb] Eversley, Shelly. &quot;Female iconography in Invisible Man.&quot; The Cambridge Companion to Ralph Ellison, ed. R. Posnock. (Cambridge: 2005) Cambridge Collections Online. December 1 Collaborative Oral Reports Texts to be assigned [Note: You are expected to read all of the assignments.] December 8 Collaborative Oral Reports Texts to be assigned [Note: You are expected to read all of the assignments.] Making this a successful class requires (inter alia): faithful class attendance. Absences except for documented emergencies will automatically lower your final grade careful study of the assigned readings in time for class discussions active participation in class discussions responsiveness from the teachers to student questions and concerns thoughtful feedback from the teachers Graded assignments include: CLASS PARTICIPATION: While we will do some lecturing, this is a seminar class. The American Heritage Dictionary defines a seminar as a small group of students in a college or graduate school engaged in intensive study under the guidance of a professor who meets regularly with them to discuss their reports and findings. We will be discussing your understandings of the material. RESPONSE PAPERS: Beginning next Monday September 15, students are expected to produce and email the instructors (by 11 a.m. on the morning 4 of the class) a coherent, 1- to 2-page response paper on the reading assigned for the week. Subjects that may be explored include: rigorous outlining or critique of arguments in the secondary material; discussion of how secondary sources illuminate questions raised in the primary texts; reflections on themes, issues, structural features, or significant images in <a href="/keyword/the-odyssey/" >the odyssey</a> and Invisible Man. Students are excused from producing a response paper on the day they present their collaborative reports and write-ups. [See below.] These assignments are designed to stimulate class discussion, give the instructors a sense of your progress, and give you on-going feedback. Lack of a response paper = lack of participation and preparation = lack of engagement with ...