ENGLISH 4973 001
Senior Seminar: Camus & Nabokov
Fall, 2007
Monday 5:30-8:15
MB 0.226
Professor: Steven G. Kellman
Office 2.454 MB
tel. 458-5216
Office hrs. M 1-2, Th 2-5:30 & appt.
kellman@lonestar.utsa.edu
SYLLABUS
I happen to find second-rate and ephemeral the works of a
number of puffed-up writers--such as Camus, Lorca, Kazantzakis,
D. H. Lawrence, Thomas Mann, Thomas Wolfe, and literally hundreds
of other "great" second-raters....Brecht, Faulkner, Camus, many
others, mean absolutely nothing to me, and I must fight a
suspicion of conspiracy against my brain when I see blandly
accepted as "great literature" by critics and fellow authors Lady
Chatterley's copulations or the pretentious nonsense of Mr.
Pound, that total fake.
--Vladimir Nabokov
....
--Albert Camus on Nabokov
Albert Camus and Vladimir Nabokov are both major figures in
twentieth-century literature, but it is hard to imagine two
authors more unalike. Camus was born into dire poverty in
colonial Algeria, while Nabokov was reared by wealthy aristocrats
in Tsarist Russia. Both men spent most of their lives in exile
from their native lands, but Camus regarded writing as an
extension of the struggle for social and political justice, while
Nabokov scorned the exploitation of art for any purpose other
than exquisite quickening of the imagination. Camus insisted on
absolute lucidity and economy of expression, whereas Nabokov's
intricate sentences are playful and elusive. Though Nabokov
dismissed the Nobel-laureate Camus as "second-rate" and
"ephemeral," both authors remain central to the modern canon. It
is impossible to understand literature in the middle of the
twentieth century without coming to erms with the very different
contributions that Camus and Nabokov each made.
This Senior Seminar is an experiment in comparative
literature. By immersing ourselves in the novels, short stories,
plays, and essays of two diametrically opposed figures, we can
attempt to survey the gamut of twentieth-century styles and
themes. What have been the possibilities of literary expression
during the era of Auschwitz, the Gulag, and Elvis? Juxtaposing
the works of Camus and Nabokov, we may discover conspicious
contrasts but also subtle affinities. Above all, we are
encountering some of the most brilliant and powerful texts
published in the past century.
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August 27
Introduction
September 3
The Stranger
September 10
The Plague
September 17
The Fall
September 24
The Fall; Exile and the Kingdom
October 1
Exile and the Kingdom
October 8
Midterm Exam
October 15
Lolita
October 22
Pnin
October 29
Pale Fire
November 5
Pale Fire
November 12
Nabokov stories
November 19
Nabokov stories
November 26
Nabokov stories
Term paper due
December 3-4
Student Study Days
December 10
FINAL EXAM
5:00-7:30 p.m.
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Required Texts:
Albert Camus. The Stranger. Vintage International. 0679720200.
Albert Camus. The Plague. Vintage International. 0679720219.
Albert Camus. The Fall. Vintage International. 0679720227.
Albert Camus. Exile and the Kingdom. Vintage. 394702816.
Vladimir Nabokov. The Annotated Lolita Revised. Vintage.
0679727299.
Vladimir Nabokov. Pnin. Vintage International. 0679723412.
Vladimir Nabokov. Pale Fire. Vintage International.
0679723420.
Vladimir Nabokov. The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov. Vintage.
0679729976.
ENG 4973 is a senior seminar in literature offered on the
premise that those who sign up for it are able and eager to
undertake sophisticated study of works by two major twentiethcentury authors. Students are expected to have read their
assignments carefully by the date specified and to come to class
prepared for active engagement in analysis of the texts. In
contrast to a lecture course, a seminar presupposes that each of
its members is primus inter pares (first among equals) and
willing to take responsibility for collective enlightenment. In
addition to reading the texts assigned to everyone in the class,
members of the seminar will be pursuing individual, original
research projects on Camus, Nabokov, and their literary contexts.
The professor is pleased to share his insights into the
works being studied, but he finds no pleasure--and no point--in
summarizing their contents to students who have not done the
reading. He is glad to teach and gladder to learn, from students
who come to class equipped for the day's topic and for consistent
effulgence. Weekly class attendance for the entirety of each
session is expected and required, and repeated unexcused absence
will result in a lowered grade.
In addition to assigned readings, class attendance, an
occasional quiz, and active, informed, and scintillating
contributions to class discussions, students will be responsible
throughout the semester for a midterm, an oral presentation, a
term paper, and a final exam. The final grade will be a function
of: midterm (25%) + term paper (30%) + class work, including
quizzes, discussions, and oral report (15%) + final exam (30%) =
100%.
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During his office hours or by appointment, Professor Kellman
is available for questions, comments, or further discussion. He
also welcomes telephonic and electronic communications. To
facilitate further thoughts about our subject, to provide a
practical means for conveying occasional information about course
procedures, and to receive supplemental information about Camus
and Nabokov, the course maintains a WebCT site that each member
of the class should consult at least once a week.
In cooperation with the Office of Disability Services, the
class accommodates student disabilities.
UTSA issues the following official caveat: "The University
expects every student to maintain a high standard of individual
integrity for work done. Scholastic dishonesty is a serious
offense that includes, but is not limited to, cheating on a test
or other work, plagiarism (the appropriation of another's work
and the incorporation of that work in one's own work), and
collusion (the unauthorized collaboration with another person in
preparing work offered for credit)."