and the
of the
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Introduction:
James Joyce, who wrote Ulysses and Finnegan’s Wake, and William Faulkner, author of The
Sound and The Fury and As I Lay Dying, are considered two of the two greatest writers of the twentieth
century and certainly two of the most profound thinkers since Shakespeare. In Ulysses, Joyce
dramatized the life altering concept that a single day can serve as a microcosm for an entire life. A
parallel idea is that a single man, or indeed, a single woman –-- in this case you and me --- are in some
fundamental yet unstated and usually unrecognized way, an everyman or an everywoman leading a life
both ordinary and sublime. In the novels of both Joyce and Faulkner (and many other modern
novelists), there are no heroes (except for the prodigious imaginations of their authors). The main
characters are often anti-heroes who suffer great losses yet radiate a humbling and transcendent
humanity.
Accordingly, through our readings and films, this course will attempt to explore both the world
and the multi-layered self in order to deepen our experience and understanding of what it means to be
human. The purpose of this course, and of all great art, is to explore the full gamut of human experience
so that, in the words of Henry David Thoreau, “when the time comes to die, we will not discover that we
have not lived.”
The question then becomes, can we, in 14 weeks, embolden each other to travel the here-to-fore
invisible
into unknown territory where each of us can become the hero of our own lives? I know of
no other more worthwhile challenge.
--- your instructor
Assessment of Prior Knowledge:
The following are 7 statements about literature. How many do you agree with? How many are true?
Directions: Write T or F to the left of each of these 7 statements. Then print out this page and turn it in at
our next class.
____ 1. Reading professional critics is the best way to discover the meaning of stories.
____ 2. Compelling stories usually have complicated plots.
____ 3. A story needs a message to be worthwhile.
____ 4. Clarity of vision and worthwhile life lessons are the hallmarks of modern literature.
____ 5. A good story will answer the questions of the curious reader.
____ 6. The author is the narrator, or speaker, of a story.
____ 7. Most great fiction depicts actual events that really happened.
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Myths about Modern Literature:
The word “myth” has two meanings that are often confused. For most people, myth is a
commonly held belief that upon close examination turns out to be false. For the sake of clarity, I will
refer to these sorts of myths as a myth with a small “m”. The other type of Myth, that I will refer to as a
Myth with a capital “M,” are legends and stories that may never have actually happened but contain
deeply meaningful psychological and emotional realities that are forever and eternally true. This type of
“truth” is not literal but metaphorical or symbolic.
Myths are important because they guide our lives and give our days and years both meaning and
purpose. Unfortunately, the great, life-vivifying Myths of the past, of heroic figures such as Ulysses,
Aphrodite, and Dionysus have been watered down into tepid imitations by our commercial culture that
exults things over people and appearance over substance. Finding the “person of our dreams,” getting
married, and living “happily ever after” or becoming “rich and famous” are examples of myths with a
small “m” that are deeply embedded in our culture. Look around, however, and you will find that both
of these myths are breaking down and falling apart. Films and stories of a literary nature offer ways of
understanding our fragmented modern society with its dissolving myths in a deeper human and historical
context that allows for the possibility of an inner healing to take place. However, how and when this
healing happens, is usually paradoxical and mysterious. Insights on this level are not easily won, for a
price must be paid, and this usually involves both courage and imagination.
These are the three values, courage,
imagination,
plus
humility
that this course
challenges you to develop.
Let’s look at courage. It takes courage, first of all, to reflect on our own inner flaws, our selfcenteredness and blindness. All of us, after all, have “blind spots,” things we literally do not see about
ourselves. And just as the sure sign of living in a “rut” is the inability to see that one’s life has become
repetitive, habitual, and boringly predictable, so too is the smug certainty that we are sufficiently aware
and not blind to our own limitations. This unconscious blindness is the surest way to retain a rhinoceros
like insensitivity, all the while not noticing how our complacent self-assuredness diminishes our inner
lives and our ability to experience the wonder of those around us.
What about imagination? Like the word “creativity,” imagination has become a clichéd, catch-all
term that sounds good but really doesn’t have much descriptive value. Real imagination, like real art, is
born of the unconscious and is wet and glistening in its hardly recognizable newness. “Works of genuine
art,” said Joyce Carol Oates, are intensely felt, thrumming with a fierce, visceral life, and at their core
are mysterious and unpredictable.”
Why, then, is imagination so important, and how is it to be developed? Real imagination is a dark
forest with wild, unknown animals lurking in the undergrowth. Quality films and award winning stories
enliven our imaginations. They wake us up by altering our perceptions and inspire us to emulate
characters who embody the courage and spontaneity we sometimes fear that we ourselves lack. By
confronting what seems hopeless, dangerous, and difficult, these imaginary, “dreamed up” characters
teach us courage and empathy as they rouse our deepest fears and desires. This is wonderful, but as long
as we remain passive observers and consumers without ever daring to write our own stories or act in a
scene from a play or a film, our imaginations will remain dormant, lifeless, and underdeveloped, existing
only in the sleepy, sun-scorched border towns of our underdeveloped psyches.
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The essence of imagination --- and this can be experienced while reading, writing, or talking --- is
the playful invention of unusual connections between ideas and things that normally do not go together.
So, if you want to be imaginative, imagine! If you want to experience the exhilaration and joy of
creativity, create! To do this requires risk taking and emulating the mind of a child. Playing it “safe”
and never risking the fear of looking foolish will, I promise, prevent you from ever creating something
new and truly interesting. Also, the fear of the unknown, if succumbed to, will keep us forever locked
away in those small, suffocating rooms of unimaginative platitudes and ready-made beliefs. Most people
prefer the security of what they already know to the uncertain unknown. However, if you want to
experience the exhilaration of creation and become the hero of your own life,
dare to admit, like Socrates, that you don’t really know anything.
risk sounding foolish.
surprise yourself with your own playfulness, and
cliff jump into the wild unknown…
All you have to lose is boredom. But what you may discover are the
wild and unspeakably beautiful
of your own
!
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