Hong Kong Shue Yan University
Department of English Language & Literature
2nd term, 2015-2016
Course Title:
Course Code:
Year of Study:
Number of Credits:
Duration in Weeks:
Contact Hours per Week:
Prerequisites:
Prepared by:
Special Topic in Literature: Literature and Music
ENG 480
4th
3
15
Lecture (2 hours)
Tutorial (1 hour)
1st and 2nd-year foundation courses
Stephen Weninger
Course Description:
The course is a focused examination of a selected topic in literary studies. Among possible topics
are the following: a specific author, literary movement, historical period, genre, or critical theory;
creative writing or literary journalism; an emerging interdisciplinary area such as digital
humanities, literature and the other arts, or the graphic novel.
Description for Literature and Music
This interdisciplinary course explores the aesthetic and cultural interactions between literature and
music. It focuses especially on the transposition of the written word into various musical forms,
from classical lieder, symphonies and dramatic cantatas, to stage musicals, pop songs and rock
opera. There is also discussion of the literariness of contemporary verbal-musical expressions
such as song lyrics. Students are encouraged to appreciate the ways shared cultural material and
iconic texts are communicated in the two art forms, and how they have been shaped by historical
contexts and ideologies. In this way, they gain a more holistic understanding of literature and
culture.
Course Outcomes, Teaching Activities and Assessment
Course Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
Upon completion of this course students should be able to:
identify and analyze literary works which make use of music
ILO1
read and discuss written texts that reference music and listen critically to
ILO2
select musical pieces based on literature
examine the intellectual and ideological contexts of the verbal and musical
ILO3
texts covered
evaluate the role of critical theory in the study of the literature-music nexus
ILO4
analyze the literary texts covered with a critical eye
ILO5
write persuasively on the intersection of literature and music
ILO6
TLA1
TLA2
TLA3
TLA4
TLA5
Teaching and Learning Activities (TLAs)
critical reading of literary texts and critical listening to musical works
explanation of theoretical and aesthetic issues
class discussion
oral presentations on the assigned texts
listening to musical recordings and screening of filmed concerts and recitals
2
AT1
AT2
AT3
AT4
AT5
Assessment Tasks (ATs)
Participation and Discussion
Response Paper
Presentation
Literature Review / Bibliography
Term Paper
TOTAL
15%
15%
20%
10%
40%
100%
Alignment of Course Intended Learning Outcomes, Teaching and Learning Activities
and Assessment Tasks
Course Intended
Teaching and Learning
Assessment Tasks
Learning Outcomes
Activities
ILO1
TLA1,2,3,4,5
AT1,2,3,5
ILO2
TLA1,2,3,5
AT1,2,3
ILO3
TLA1,2,3
AT1,2,3,4,5
ILO4
TLA1,2,3,4
AT1,2,3,4,5
ILO5
TLA1,2,3
AT12,3,5
ILO6
TLA4
AT1,2,3,5
ILO7
TLA1,2,4,5
AT2,4,5
Week 1. Course Overview: interdisciplinary approaches to the arts
literary texts referencing music
literature: The Awakening (excerpts from chapters 9, 21, 39; 1899) by Kate Chopin
♪ “Fantaisie-Impromptu” (Opus 66; 1834) by Frederic Chopin
♪
“Liebestod” (from Tristan and Isolde; 1865) by Richard Wagner
literature: Howard’s End (excerpts from chapter 5; 1910) by E. M. Forster
♪ Symphony No. 5 (excerpts; 1808) by Ludwig von Beethoven
music referencing literary texts (brief examples)
classical
pop songs
♪ “Killing an Arab” (1980) by The Cure
♪ “Cemetery Gates” (1986) by The Smiths
♪ “Off to the Races” (2012) by Lana Del Rey
♪ “Whiter Shade of Pale” (1967) by Procul Harem
♪ “Scentless Apprentice” (1996) by Nirvana
♪ “ReJoyce” (1967) by Jefferson Airplane
♪ “Rave on John Donne” (1983) by Van Morrison
Week 2. From Poetry to Song
classical Lieder (art songs)
poem: “Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel” (1829) J. W. von Goethe
♪ Lied: Franz Schubert (1814)
♪ arrangement for piano: Franz Liszt (excerpts 1837)
3
poem: “On the Wings of Song” (1827) by Heinrich Heine
♪ Lied: Felix Mendelssohn (1834)
poem: “The Erl-king” by J. W. von Goethe (1782)
♪ Lied: Franz Schubert (1821)
♪ arrangement for organ: Cameron Carpenter (2010)
♪ a cappella bop version: Maybebop (2013)
pop culture
poem: “Cradle Song” (1603) by Thomas Drekker
♪ “Golden Slumber” (1969) by The Beatles
poem: the Lucy poems (1798-1801) by William Wordsworth
♪ “Lucy” (1993) by The Divine Comedy
poem: “Little Viennese Waltz” (1930) by Frederico Garcia Lorca
♪ “Take This Waltz” (1986) by Leonard Cohen
Week 3. . Iconic Text: The Inferno
epic poem: The Inferno (The Divine Comedy; 1320) by Dante (Cantos 1-5, 26)
♪ Francesca de Rimini (1876) by Pyotr Tchaikovsky (excerpts)
♪ Dante Symphony (1857) by Franz Liszt (1st Movement)
Week 4. Iconic Text: Faust
The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus (1592) by Thomas Marlowe (excerpts)
♪ The Damnation of Faust (1846) by Hector Berlioz (excerpts)
Faust. Part 1 (1829) by J. W. von Goethe
♪ A Faust Symphony (1857) by Franz Liszt
Week 5. Iconic Text: Faust (continued)
pop / rock music
♪ Faust (1995) pop musical by Randy Newman
http://randynewman.com/2010/03/randy-newmans-faust/
♪
Beethoven’s Last Night (2000) rock opera by Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Week 6. The Musicalization of Fiction: An Experiment
Napoleon Symphony: A Novel in Four Movements (excerpts; 1974) by Anthony Burgess
♪ Symphony No. 3 by Ludwig von Beethoven
Week 7. Lyrics as Poetry: The Case of Bob Dylan
♪ “Mr. Tambourine Man” (1965)
♪ “Chimes of Freedom” (1964)
♪ “Love Minus Zero. No Limit” (1965)
♪ “Visions of Johanna” (1966)
♪ “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” (1965)
♪ “My Back Pages” (1964)
Week 8. Literature and Music on Stage and Screen
Iconic Text: Don Quixote
Don Quixote (1605-1615) by Miguel de Cervantes (excerpts)
Week 9. Iconic Text: Don Quixote (continued)
4
Broadway musical
♪ Man of La Mancha (1965) by Joe Darion (lyrics) & Mitch Leigh (music)
pop songs
♪ “Don Quixote” (1972) by Gordon Lightfoot
Week 10. Music as a Theme in Fiction: Workshop
short story: “Cellists: and “Crooner” by Kazuo Ishiguro
(from Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall; 2009)
♪ Nocturnes (selection) (1827-1846) by Frederic Chopin
short story: “The Violoncello” by Dan Rhodes
(from Don’t Tell Me the Truth About Love; 2003)
short story: “The Man Who Loved A Double Bass” (1962) by Angela Carter
(from Burning Your Boats. The Collected Short Stories; 1995)
short story: “The Preserving Machine” by Philip K. Dick
(from The Preserving Machine and Other Stories; 1969)
Week 11. Reading Week
Week 12. Guest Lecture on Literature and Music (Professional Musician)
Week 13. Brief Student Presentations: Term Paper Topics, Texts and Theses
Assessment
Participation, Worksheets and Discussion
Response Paper
Presentation
Literature Review / Bibliography
Term Paper
15%
15%
20%
10%
40%
100%
Primary Texts
Burgess, Anthony. Napoleon Symphony: A Novel in Four Movements. New York: W. W. Norton,
2014.
Cervantes, Miguel De. Don Quixote. Trans. John Rutherford. London: Penguin, 2003. (excerpts)
Dick, Philip K. “The Preserving Machine.” The Preserving Machine and Other Stories. New
York: Ace, 1969.
Goethe, J. W. von. Faust, Part One. Trans. David Luke. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008.
Ishiguro, Kazuo. “Cellists” and “Crooners” from Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall.
New York: Vintage, 2010. 3-33, 189-221.
Pinsky, Robert. The Inferno of Dante. A New Verse Translation. New York: Farrar, Straus and
Giroux, 1991. (Cantos 1-5, 26)
5
Rhodes, Dan. “The Violoncello.” Don’t Tell Me the Truth About Love: Stories. London: Fourth
Estate, 2001.
Supplementary Texts
Adorno, Theodor. “Music, Language and Composition.” Essays on Music. Ed. Richard Leppert.
Trans. Susan H. Gillespie. Berkeley: U of California P, 2002. 113-126.
Albright, Daniel. Untwisting the Serpent: Modernism in Music, Literature, and Other Arts.
Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2000.
Benon, Stephen. Literary Music: Writing Music in Contemporary Fiction. London: Ashgate,
2006.
Boucher, David. “Images and Distorted Facts: Politics, Poetry and Protest in the Songs of Bob
Dylan.” Eds. David Boucher and G Browning. The Political Art of Bob Dylan. London:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. 134-169.
Brown, Calvin S. Music and Literature. A Comparison of the Arts. Hanover, NH: UP of New
England, 1982.
Bucknell, Brad. Literary Modernism and Musical Aesthetics: Pater, Pound, Joyce and Stein.
Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2002.
Butler, Christopher. “Dylan and the Academics.” Ed. N. Corcoran. Do You Know Mr. Jones? Bob
Dylan with the Poets and the Professors. London: Chatto & Windus, 2002. 51-71.
Clayton, Martin. Music, Words and Voice. Manchester: Manchester UP, 2007.
Cott, Jonathan. Ed. Dylan on Dylan. The Essential Interviews. London: Hodder, 2007.
Dayan, Peter. Music Writing Literature, from Sand via Debussy to Derrida. London: Ashgate,
2006.
Dillon, Sarah. The Palimpsest: Literature, Criticism, Theory. London: Continuum, 2007.
Hutcheon, Linda. A Theory of Adaptation. London: Routledge, 2006.
Kramer, Lawrence. Classical Music and Postmodern Knowledge. Berkeley: U of
California P, 1995.
---, Music as Cultural Practice, 1800-1900. Berkeley: U of California P, 1990.
---, After the Lovedeath: Sexual Violence and the Making of Culture. Berkeley: U of
California P, 1997.
---, Franz Schubert: Sexuality, Subjectivity, Song. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1998.
---, Musical Meaning: Toward a Critical History. Berkeley: U of California P, 2001.
---, Opera and Modern Culture: Wagner and Strauss. Berkeley: U of California P, 2004.
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Langer, Susanne K. Philosophy in a New Key: A Study in the Symbolism of Reason,
Rite and Art. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1942.
Parson, James, Ed. The Cambridge Companion to the Lied. Cambridge: Cambridge UP,
2004.
Petermann, Emily. The Musical Novel. Imitation of Musical Structure, Performance,
and Reception in Contemporary Fiction. Rochester: Camden House, 2014.
Scher, Steven Paul. ed., Music and Text: Critical Inquiries. Cambridge: Cambridge UP,
1992.
—-, “Notes Towards a Theory of Verbal Music.” Comparative Literature 72 (1970):
147-156.
Stein, Deborah and Robert Spillman. Poetry into Song: Performance and Analysis of
Lieder. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1996.
Steiner, Wendy. The Sign in Music and Literature. Austin: U of Texas P, 1981.
Wolf, Werner. The Musicalization of Fiction. A Study in the History and Theory of
Intermediality. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1999.
Zapruder, Matthew. “The Difference Between Poetry and Song Lyrics.” The Boston
Review. bostonreview.net. 6 December 2012. Web. 17 June 2015.