Syllabus
English 2624
Fall 2002
Ingrid Fields
American Gothic: Madness and the Visionary
The symbol of madness will henceforth be that mirror which,
without reflecting anything real, will secretly offer the man who
observes himself in it the dream of his own presumption. Madness
deals not so much with truth and the world, as with the man and
whatever truth about himself he is able to perceive.
— Michel Foucault, Madness and Civilization
The difference (between the mystical experience and the
psychological crack-up) is that the one who cracks up is drowning
in the water in which the mystic swims.
—Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth
In any society whose culture contains notions of sanity and
insanity, the person who finds his subjective state altered may
think he has become insane.”
Howard
Subjective Experience”
Becker,
“History,
Culture,
and
This course takes as its focus issues of madness in American
literature and culture, investigating the influence of the
“insane” as visionaries in short stories, novels, and movies. We
will consider how this genre shapes and transmutes itself from
mid 19th century to late 20th century representations. More
importantly, we will raise questions about some of the ways
madness functions in American culture, how it has come to shape
our conception of the “visionary,” mystical, or religious
experience, and how it is represented in popular culture. In the
United States, madness often holds the place of the indescribable
or the inexplicable; we find it in representations of the
religious experience, war, politics, love and labor. Required
reading / viewing will include works of fiction, philosophy,
memoir, documentary, television drama, case studies, and cultural
criticism. Some of these texts represent the visionary/Other’s’
perspective or subjectivity, others use that perspective as a
form of social critique.
In addition to studying the primary texts, we will all go stark
raving mad in the serene, meditative environment of a private
ward devoted to the pursuit of truth right down to its grisly,
raw marrow. (Go ahead and laugh.) Seriously, you will be required
to try a few extracurricular experiences including a 24-hour vow
of silence. By experiencing the deprivation of senses, we
approach alternative modes of consciousness that we’ll be reading
about. This shift of perception is an attempt to get past the
voyeurism of the course and into the issues of subjectivity in
these perspectives and works.
Required Reading (in order of syllabus): (R) = on reserve in
library
The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales, Edgar Allen Poe,
1840.
“The Yellow Wallpaper”, Charlotte Perkins Gilman 1892. (R)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey, 1962.
“Stultifera Navis,” Madness and Civilization: A History of
Insanity in the Age of Reason, Michel
Foucault, 1965. (R)
Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, Grant Morrison &
Dave McKean, 1988.
Tarot Information (file on R)
“The Encyclopedia of Insanity: a Psychiatric Handbook Lists a
Madness for Everyone,”
L.J. Davis & Letters to the Editor in response, 1997. (R)
“Foreword,” & “The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche,”
Psychology and the Occult,
Carl Jung, 1919. (R)
Woman on the Edge of Time, Marge Piercy, 1976.
The Violent Bear it Away , Flannery O’Connor, 1960.
“The Journey Inward,” The Power of Myth, Joseph Campbell, 1988
(R)
“Mysticism,” The Varieties of Religious Experience, William
James, 1902 (R)
“Marjoe Gortner,” Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman, 1978 (R)
“Do Drugs Have Religious Import?” Huston Smith, 1964 (R)
Campbell excerpt, pp. 13-14 from “Myth and the Modern World”
“Psychedelic Society,” Terrance McKenna (R)
“The Nitrous Oxide Philosopher,” Dmitiri Tymoczko (R)
or
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/96may/nitrous/nitrous.htm
and the Modern World” “This is your Brain on God, Jack Hitt
(R)
The Doors of Perception, Aldous Huxley, 1954.
“Psychedelics in the Twentieth Century,” Grinspoon and Bakalar,
1979. (R)
“Preface,” also pp. 46-9, and chapters 1 & 2, from Fire in the
Brain: Clinical Tales of
Hallucination, Ronald K. Siegel, 1992. (R)
Viewing: (unless listed otherwise, DVD — all on reserve for use
in library only)
The Rapture, Michael Tolkin, 1991. (100 min.)
Marjoe, Sarah Kernochan & Howard Smith, 1972. (video ,88 min.)
“Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose,” X Files, Chris Carter & Darin
Morgan, 1995
(video, 50 min.)
Erowid website: http://www.erowid.org/index.shtml
Mulholland Drive, David Lynch, 2001 (145 min)
Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola, 1979. (153 min.)
Assignments: All writing for this course should be based on
careful analytical inquiry (thesis, key observations and
evidence, development: the “so what?” question, conclusion).
• Reading/Viewing Analyses: three well-developed reading/viewing
analyses. These are three-page mini-papers, formal writing
(thesis, development, conclusions), potentially including one on
your extra-curricular experience(s). The analyses are where you
practice formal, analytical writing. They will be graded
individually.
• Two of the analyses topics are assigned in the syllabus, one
is a research-based
analysis of your own choice (assignment sheet to follow).
• Midterm Exam – an in-class essay.
• Final Essay: an 8-10 page analytical essay that argues a
position on the issues we explore.
• You will also be required to present your final essay
argument in brief (3-5 min
summary) in the last two weeks. This will be part of the
participation grade.
• Reading Quizzes – part of the participation grade.
Participation: Attendance is essential to the seminar—much of
what we do transpires in discussion. Excessive absences (more
than three) will seriously affect your grade. The baseline
expectation here is that you will have read thoroughly and
thoughtfully, and that you will reread, write about the reading,
and consider discussion questions prior to seminar. Failure to do
this will affect your performance in the class. Without class
preparation, we will all be miserable, staring at each other when
we could be having fascinating discussions. And that might drive
us all mad.
Grading: Reading/Viewing Analyses 10% each/30%, Midterm Exam 20%,
Final
Essay
35%,
Participation
(includes
quizzes
and
presentation) 15%.
Office Hours: (HH 221) – I look forward to meeting with you about
discussion, readings/viewings, class ideas, and your work. Please
make an appointment in advance on the sign-up sheet on my office
door. Phone: 8164, but the best way to reach me is by email:
ifields@transy.edu.
Reading / Screening Schedule
Screenings are to be done in the library, outside class time.
Extra-curricular: Requirements: meditation, vow of silence
Options: fasting, solitude (taking a day(s) away from any
social/public space, to be
alone, meditate, be silent, etc.). See Vision Quest Handout
The Asylum: Madness Contained
W Sept 4: Introduction: Madness and Insight - Handout
F 6: Poe, “The Fall of the House of Usher”
• start reading Kesey
M 9: Perkins-Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper” (R)
W 11: Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (through page190)
F 13: Kesey, finish the novel
• Required: 24 hour vow of silence sometime this weekend!
• start reading Morrison/McKean
M 16: Kesey & In Class Writing on Silence
W 18: Foucault, “Stultifera Navis,” Madness and Civilization: A
History of Insanity in the Age of
Reason (R) & Lupack handout
F 20: L.J. Davis, “The Encyclopedia of Insanity: a Psychiatric
Handbook Lists a Madness
for Everyone” & the Letters to the Editor in response (R)
• Analysis #1 due – Kesey
M 23: Carl Jung, “Foreword,” & “The Structure and Dynamics of the
Psyche,” from
Psychology and the Occult (R)
W 25: Morrison/McKean, Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious
Earth – Introduction
copy and read Tarot information (R)
F 27: Morrison/McKean
• Start reading Piercy
M 30: Morrison/McKean
W Oct 2: Morrison/McKean
Psychics & Paranormal Perception
Required: Meditation this week
F 4: Piercy, Woman on the Edge of Time (through chp. 5)
M 7: Piercy, (through chp. 10)
W 9: Exam preparation
F 11: In-Class Midterm Exam
M 14: Fall Holiday
W 16: Piercy – finish novel
F 18: Piercy
• View “Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose” for Monday
M 21: Carter & Morgan, “Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose (R)
Religion: Prophets, Visionaries, and Faith
W 23: O’Connor, The Violent Bear it Away - part 2
F 25: O’Connor – finish novel
M 28: O’Connor
W 30: O’Connor
• Analysis #2 due: focus on any reading to date, may include
other texts as well.
F Nov 1: James, “Mysticism,” The Varieties of Religious
Experience & Campbell, “The Journey
Inward,” The Power of Myth (R)
• View both The Rapture and Marjoe for next week
M 4: Tolkin, The Rapture (R)
W 6: Kernochan & Smith, Marjoe (R); read “Marjoe Gortner,” Flo
Conway and Jim
Siegelman, 1978 (R)
F 8: Hitt, “This is Your Brain
Society,” Terrance McKenna (R),
on
God”
(R),
“Psychedelic
& Campbell excerpt, pp. 13-14 from “Myth and the Modern World”
(R)
• Analysis #3 due – research topic
M 11: Smith, “Do Drugs Have Religious Import?” (R), & Tymoczko,
“The Nitrous Oxide
Philosopher” (R) or
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/96may/nitrous/nitrous.htm
Other Perspectives: Drugs, Dreams, and Visions
W 13: Huxley, The Doors of Perception
F 15: skim Grinspoon and Bakalar “Psychedelics in the Twentieth
Century” (R) and
view
the
Erowid
site
on
psychedelics:
http://www.erowid.org/index.shtml
• View Mulholland Drive for Wednesday
M 18: Siegel, readings from Fire in the Brain: Clinical Tales of
Hallucination (R)
W 20: Lynch, Mulholland Drive
• View Apocalypse Now
F 22: Coppola, Apocalypse Now (1979) (R)
Final Essay due
M 25: Student presentations
W 27: Student presentations
Thanksgiving Holiday
M Dec 2: Student presentations
Wed 4: Discussion
F 6: Conclusions, Evaluations, etc.
Related Reading (FYI)
Literature / Film:
Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper, and Eleanor Coppola Hearts of
Darkness: A Filmmaker’s
Apocalypse (documentary about the making of AN)
Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland (background for Arkham Asylum)
Henry James, The Turn of the Screw
Terry Gilliam, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, 1997
Tony Kushner, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches &
Perestroika (2 part play)
David Lynch, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (film)
Arthur Miller, The Crucible (play)
Marsha Norman, ‘night, Mother
Jonathan Lethem, The Vintage Book of Amnesia
Sam Raimi, The Gift, (film)
J.D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey
TV Series American Gothic, produced by Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert
(1995). See: http://www.scifi.com/americangothic/
Theoretical:
File (R): Mysticism: Vision Quests – American Indian Narratives
Howard Becker, “History, Culture, and Subjective Experience,”
Journal of Health and Social
Behavior, 1967.
Peter Berger, The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological
Theory of Religion. (general resource)
Fred Botting, Gothic (The New Critical Idiom) (Routledge, 1996).
Joseph Campell, The Power of Myth (Doubleday, 1988). (general
resource)
Flo Conway & Jim Siegelman, “Marjoe Gortner,” Snapping: America’s
Epidemic of
Sudden Personality Change, 1978
URL: http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/marjoe.htm
Martin Davies and Max Coltheart, Introduction, Pathologies of
Belief (Blackwell, 2000).
(general resource)
R.A. Durr, Poetic Vision and the Psychedelic Experience. Syracuse
University Press, 1970.
Michel Foucault, Civilization and Madness: A History of Insanity
in the Age of
Reason (Random House, 1965).
Teresa A. Goddu, Gothic America: Narrative, History, and Nation
(Columbia UP, 1997)
William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience (Harvard U.,
1902). (general resource)
Theodore Kaczinski, The Unabomber Manifesto: Industrial Society &
Its Future
http://www.panix.com/~clays/Una/
Timothy Leary, Flashbacks: An Autobiography. Los Angeles, P.J.
Tarcher, 1983.
Barbara Tepa Lupack, Insanity as Redemption in Contemporary
American Fiction:
Inmates Running the Asylum (U. Press of Florida, 1995).
Richard Reynolds, Super Heroes: A Modern Mythology (U. Press of
Mississippi, 1994).
Donald Ringe, American Gothic: Imagination and Reason in
Nineteenth-Century Fiction (U.
Kentucky Press, 1982).
Ronald K. Siegel, Fire on the Brain: Clinical Tales of
Hallucination
Anna Sonser, A Passion for Consumption: The Gothic Novel in
America.
Peter Stafford, Psychedelics Encyclopedia, Berkeley, CA: Ronin,
1992.
Jay Stevens, Storming Heaven: LSD and the American Dream. New
York: Harper and Row,
1988.
For a traditional look at the gothic in American literature (one
that does not share our definition of madness and the visionary),
see:
Steven Bruhm, Gothic Bodies: The Politics of Pain in Romantic
Fiction (U. Penn. Press,
1994).
Paul P. Reuben, "PAL: Appendix N: The Gothic and American
Literature." PAL:
Perspectives in American Literature- A Research and Reference
Guide.
URL:http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/append/axn.html
Tobin Siebers, The Romantic Fantastic, (Cornell Univ., 1984).