Dienstag, 28. August 2007
One possible structure of Walden
Though at first you may think of Walden as a disorganized, loose collection of notes and random thoughts and guesses, try to find structure. (Even if you decide to follow contemporary approaches to literature, remember that in order to prove a text's undercutting of itself, for example, you will first have to establish a structure in the text and not just simply deny it from the get-go.)
We'll probably have this passage in the course reader, but I'll post it so that you can read Walden along these lines if you have real troubles sorting out your thougts. Matthiessen (168ff) delineates an intricate structure to the text, and I would support his thesis with minor changes.
Remember that the book is not the notebook he claims (always be aware, if an author makes a claim about his text within that text, it is not primarily a neutral comment, but much more often part of the novel!), but the deliberate manipulation of material collected over more than 15 years!
Walden functions on two structural levels in its organization:
1. Chronologically, Thoreau displays the connection between the day as a symbol for the year, the year as a symbol for a life, and nature as the enclosing totality. So we find a circularity and yet an inter-relation as well as a progression. You may want to think about why he started in summer instead of winter, spring, or autumn.
2. Topically, he progresses from one chapter to the next:
-Economy: What is this all about? "lives of quiet desperation"
-Where....: What is the deeper meaning of this? "wedge down to reality, observe reality)
-Reading: (the observer reads and observes language)
-Sounds: (the universal language, the absence of sounds)
-Solitude: (in the quiet exists the joy of unimpared senses)
-Visitors: (contrasting, disturbances, the praise of the real man)
-Bean Field: (seasons and nature call, the main occupation)
-Village: (contrast, breaks from work, gossip, strolling)
-The Ponds: (strolling further)
-Baker Farm: (rambling even further, on the return the startling desire to eat an animal and the epiphany of the spiritual and wild sides of his being)
-Higher Laws: (he explores the spiritual side until his imagination is satisfied)
-Brute Neighbors: (he explores the wild side until his imagination is satisfied)
-Here the text changes into a second part, as the cyclical structure of nature takes over the organization, based on the simple fact that it is necessary.
House-Warming: (summer is gone, a chimney is built)
-Winter Visitors/
-Winter Animals/
-The Pond in Winter: (a long and cold winter leaves its impression in the long treatment, as winter progresses, his circle of consideration contracts in each chapter, he closes into himself like nature. The cutting of the ice finally explodes his imagination again into stunning passages that fully leave behind time and space.)
-Spring: (the breaking of the ice brings the renewal of the world, a promise and cheerfulness).
We'll probably have this passage in the course reader, but I'll post it so that you can read Walden along these lines if you have real troubles sorting out your thougts. Matthiessen (168ff) delineates an intricate structure to the text, and I would support his thesis with minor changes.
Remember that the book is not the notebook he claims (always be aware, if an author makes a claim about his text within that text, it is not primarily a neutral comment, but much more often part of the novel!), but the deliberate manipulation of material collected over more than 15 years!
Walden functions on two structural levels in its organization:
1. Chronologically, Thoreau displays the connection between the day as a symbol for the year, the year as a symbol for a life, and nature as the enclosing totality. So we find a circularity and yet an inter-relation as well as a progression. You may want to think about why he started in summer instead of winter, spring, or autumn.
2. Topically, he progresses from one chapter to the next:
-Economy: What is this all about? "lives of quiet desperation"
-Where....: What is the deeper meaning of this? "wedge down to reality, observe reality)
-Reading: (the observer reads and observes language)
-Sounds: (the universal language, the absence of sounds)
-Solitude: (in the quiet exists the joy of unimpared senses)
-Visitors: (contrasting, disturbances, the praise of the real man)
-Bean Field: (seasons and nature call, the main occupation)
-Village: (contrast, breaks from work, gossip, strolling)
-The Ponds: (strolling further)
-Baker Farm: (rambling even further, on the return the startling desire to eat an animal and the epiphany of the spiritual and wild sides of his being)
-Higher Laws: (he explores the spiritual side until his imagination is satisfied)
-Brute Neighbors: (he explores the wild side until his imagination is satisfied)
-Here the text changes into a second part, as the cyclical structure of nature takes over the organization, based on the simple fact that it is necessary.
House-Warming: (summer is gone, a chimney is built)
-Winter Visitors/
-Winter Animals/
-The Pond in Winter: (a long and cold winter leaves its impression in the long treatment, as winter progresses, his circle of consideration contracts in each chapter, he closes into himself like nature. The cutting of the ice finally explodes his imagination again into stunning passages that fully leave behind time and space.)
-Spring: (the breaking of the ice brings the renewal of the world, a promise and cheerfulness).
(Dienstag, 28. August 2007)
Link
Montag, 27. August 2007
Don't be so abstract, my dear
Regarding our secondary texts...
Well, we won't cover everything, and not in-depth, but this is a university course in literature, and you should be roughly aware of the current state of research. We will look at socio-cultural contexts and related theoretical questions related to the texts (among others Marxism, Feminism, New Historicism), at aesthetic dimensions (New Criticism), and at the experience of reading (Narratology, Reader Reception Theory, Hermeneutics). None of these articles will be the center of attention, but please read through them and think about how they open the primary texts to new insights.
If you are at all interested in understanding more theory, here is a recommendation on how to start out:
-Read Culler's Very Short Introduction, it is simplified, gives important distinctions, brief summaries and the like in a very readable text.
-Read the relevant chapters in Klarer, Eagleton, and other introductions.
-Read the theorists themselves. Until you get into the late 20th century (hardcore Structuralism and Poststucturalism) most texts are pretty readable, you may be surprised how much you understand. In my mind the best compilation and anthology is the Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism.
Well, we won't cover everything, and not in-depth, but this is a university course in literature, and you should be roughly aware of the current state of research. We will look at socio-cultural contexts and related theoretical questions related to the texts (among others Marxism, Feminism, New Historicism), at aesthetic dimensions (New Criticism), and at the experience of reading (Narratology, Reader Reception Theory, Hermeneutics). None of these articles will be the center of attention, but please read through them and think about how they open the primary texts to new insights.
If you are at all interested in understanding more theory, here is a recommendation on how to start out:
-Read Culler's Very Short Introduction, it is simplified, gives important distinctions, brief summaries and the like in a very readable text.
-Read the relevant chapters in Klarer, Eagleton, and other introductions.
-Read the theorists themselves. Until you get into the late 20th century (hardcore Structuralism and Poststucturalism) most texts are pretty readable, you may be surprised how much you understand. In my mind the best compilation and anthology is the Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism.
(Montag, 27. August 2007)
Link
The Big Ones
Regarding the longest primary texts:
Hawthorne:
Generally, Hawthorne's texts are quite readable, with a fluent, though somewhat aged, formal style (remember how old these texts are and what people read back then...read through Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress for a taste). The focus with his texts will lie on unpacking the very very dense concepts and strategic relations he sets up in his texts, how characters and topics interact, overlap, and struggle. Think about his view of the past, what America's history contributes to its present, and how this relates to the other authors' views. He is quite clever, and you may want to think back to his texts or just take a look at passages that confused you after you read the other authors.
Emerson:
Is he an author, is he a philosopher, are his texts essays, inquiries, fictional works? Don't worry, many smart people have wasted much ink on these issues, so just read him and try to remember as much as you can. I personally found him to be one of those authors you just have to take notes with, because almost every single sentence is an own aphorism. Though he reads a lot like philosophy, don't expect one whole, complete, structured theory. He himself constantly complained of being too inconsistent, always a short burst, then nothing.
If you get too confused, take some time to look at the link regarding Transcendentalism, and remember the times and theories that Idealists and also Transcendentalists were reacting against (Rationalism, Industrialization, etc...). Many of his notions are tied in with earlier theological and philosophical contexts, he also relates closely to Carlyle.
Thoreau:
All right, Walden seems like a pointless, chaotic enterprise. Still, remember that Thoreau often writes tongue-in-cheek, and that even if you don't remember the exact details of every chapter, you can understand WHAT he is doing: how does he transform the experience of nature from, let's say Wordsworth? Does he only describe things he sees? What happens after he sees the surfaces in nature? How does his writing relate to what Emerson said?
Whitman:
Most importantly: have fun and enjoy the ride. Read out aloud (helps with many of these authors), and don't hold back with associations, be they political, philosophical, or sexual in nature (yup, plenty of naughty things in Walt's texts). Read Longfellow to see the revolution Whitman represents, and think about how close he still is to modern poetry. Take a walk up to the Seidelkreuz or the Frauenberg through the woods and sing him aloud.
Melville:
This novel only resurfaced in the beginning of the 20th century...and for good reasons. His contemporaries declared Melville insane, his novels were forgotten or abridged into kids' adventure tales when really Melville realized one of the most daring experiments in the English language, in one row with Sterne, Carlyle, and Joyce. There are few novels as multi-layered, polyphonic and polyvalent, complex and catching as Moby Dick, and, trust decades of exegesis, Melville read A LOT, so his references are plentiful and in-deepth. He wrote as much about writing and the human conscience as he did about whaling, as much about the human existence and epistemology as about wooden legs. Still, here's the good news: you will understand the novel. Even if you don't dive into the latest queer studies essays published, you will get more of the text than you think.
Hawthorne:
Generally, Hawthorne's texts are quite readable, with a fluent, though somewhat aged, formal style (remember how old these texts are and what people read back then...read through Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress for a taste). The focus with his texts will lie on unpacking the very very dense concepts and strategic relations he sets up in his texts, how characters and topics interact, overlap, and struggle. Think about his view of the past, what America's history contributes to its present, and how this relates to the other authors' views. He is quite clever, and you may want to think back to his texts or just take a look at passages that confused you after you read the other authors.
Emerson:
Is he an author, is he a philosopher, are his texts essays, inquiries, fictional works? Don't worry, many smart people have wasted much ink on these issues, so just read him and try to remember as much as you can. I personally found him to be one of those authors you just have to take notes with, because almost every single sentence is an own aphorism. Though he reads a lot like philosophy, don't expect one whole, complete, structured theory. He himself constantly complained of being too inconsistent, always a short burst, then nothing.
If you get too confused, take some time to look at the link regarding Transcendentalism, and remember the times and theories that Idealists and also Transcendentalists were reacting against (Rationalism, Industrialization, etc...). Many of his notions are tied in with earlier theological and philosophical contexts, he also relates closely to Carlyle.
Thoreau:
All right, Walden seems like a pointless, chaotic enterprise. Still, remember that Thoreau often writes tongue-in-cheek, and that even if you don't remember the exact details of every chapter, you can understand WHAT he is doing: how does he transform the experience of nature from, let's say Wordsworth? Does he only describe things he sees? What happens after he sees the surfaces in nature? How does his writing relate to what Emerson said?
Whitman:
Most importantly: have fun and enjoy the ride. Read out aloud (helps with many of these authors), and don't hold back with associations, be they political, philosophical, or sexual in nature (yup, plenty of naughty things in Walt's texts). Read Longfellow to see the revolution Whitman represents, and think about how close he still is to modern poetry. Take a walk up to the Seidelkreuz or the Frauenberg through the woods and sing him aloud.
Melville:
This novel only resurfaced in the beginning of the 20th century...and for good reasons. His contemporaries declared Melville insane, his novels were forgotten or abridged into kids' adventure tales when really Melville realized one of the most daring experiments in the English language, in one row with Sterne, Carlyle, and Joyce. There are few novels as multi-layered, polyphonic and polyvalent, complex and catching as Moby Dick, and, trust decades of exegesis, Melville read A LOT, so his references are plentiful and in-deepth. He wrote as much about writing and the human conscience as he did about whaling, as much about the human existence and epistemology as about wooden legs. Still, here's the good news: you will understand the novel. Even if you don't dive into the latest queer studies essays published, you will get more of the text than you think.
(Sonntag, 26. August 2007)
Link
Mittwoch, 8. August 2007
Moby DICK
Es ist wirklich ein dickes Buch, also an all die Tapferen, die sich dieses Monsters annehmen ein Extratool: http://www.princeton.edu/%7Ebatke/moby/ghindex.html
Eine Volltextsuche, mit Direktzugriff, Seiten nummeriert nach der Norton Critical Edition.
Eine Volltextsuche, mit Direktzugriff, Seiten nummeriert nach der Norton Critical Edition.
(Mittwoch, 8. August 2007)
Link
Montag, 23. Juli 2007
Rule # 1: Don't Panic!
Hoping that you are on your way into the literature...seriously, a Blockseminar only makes sense if you guys read all texts before we meet...I want to drop a short line on the material we'll cover.
First of all, we are currently six students, so the course will definitely take place. I am glad that you joined the course, as students in EI tend to stick to what they know, especially if it happens to take place between Tuesdays and Thursdays around 1 pm. ;)
Possibly the style I used in the syllabus scared some off--though in that case they seem to have ignored the fourth sentence from the top (not a good sign), in which I point out that the syllabus is a collection of rules that will allow us to have more fun in class.
Many people also have problems with a Blockseminar, though I personally always thought it a great thing to take an extra course with my own pace of preparation during the semester.
Our fabulous reader is HERE, and you can pick it up at Frau Niegsch's office. The reader contains ALL short texts and a bunch of secondary literature, with short intros telling you what to do with it.
As I said before, please have ALL texts read BEFORE you come to class, this is really important. We only have a few hours on this or that text, with presentations and discussions we probably won't have time to read the texts in class.
You can read far more effectively in your own space and with all your resources at hand to answer any questions you have about the texts, you can take notes, look up vocabulary, etc...
The order of the texts you read does not matter, though I did structure the course in this way: usually AR courses start with Emerson as the forefather of it all, but he is rather abstract and philosophical, so I chose an easier author, at least more readable one first, namely Hawthorne, who is a good introduction.
I personally think Hawthorne - Thoreau - Emerson - Whitman - Melville is a good order, just because Hawthorne is a good read and his texts can be easily remembered, Thoreau is fun and lively, then you need some more abstract foundations for the texts in the form of Emerson, followed by the radical innovator Whitman, and everything culminates in the masterpieces by Melville. Again, this is an idea, you don't NEED to do this, and if you are well into Moby Dick, then go on reading, but make sure you read the info I posted on the blog on how to read effectively and with our course goals in mind. The texts don't really build on each other, but their ideas and concepts mix and connect.
Please do not hesitate to drop me a line if you have any further questions, go ahead and read the material I put online to help you on the blog, use the blog as a platform and contact each other and me if you need any help.
Now, obviously there are "simpler" and "more complex" texts. Already, I put these terms in quotation marks, but at least when it comes to readability, be it syntactically or psychologically, there are vastly different texts here.
Now mind you, it's all good, we are all friends here, and you've got somebody the good German tax payers invested a lot of money into to be able to help you through this stuff.
They all, as we say in German "kochen auch nur mit Wasser"!
So whether it is a novel, poem, or article, don't panic, we'll get it sorted out, just don't worry.
Make sure you follow a common approach of literary studies:
-Read the foreword of your edition. Ideally buy editions that have a good foreword, written by someone in the field. There are decent ones, and usually big publishers will take the time to look for someone qualified. If you want to, check out the Norton Critical Edition or similar, they come pre-loaded with a ton of footnotes, explanations, references, criticism, and other valuable material.
-Look at the text's structure (books, chapters, sections, verses, ...) and keep it in mind when reading the text. How does the structure relate to the content? Also, check when the text was first published and quickly browse the major historical facts of that time, what was on people's minds and does the text relate to events? If no, then why not?
-Rest assured that nothing "just happens to be written like that" in texts we assign you in literature classes, so if something seems strange, note it down and ask, it probably is something important. If the text(s) "fight back," if they are resisting your reading of them in any way (syntax, lexicon, content, characters, message), reflect on that too. Authors are aware of the option of making a text difficult or strange to read, and we want to watch ourselves read texts.
For our course, also look at the links I provided and let us all here know if you found a good site online, we will surely appreciate it!
It is important, however, for you to dive in and really sink your teeth into these texts, to wrestle with them, write down your questions, and so forth, so let's go.
First of all, we are currently six students, so the course will definitely take place. I am glad that you joined the course, as students in EI tend to stick to what they know, especially if it happens to take place between Tuesdays and Thursdays around 1 pm. ;)
Possibly the style I used in the syllabus scared some off--though in that case they seem to have ignored the fourth sentence from the top (not a good sign), in which I point out that the syllabus is a collection of rules that will allow us to have more fun in class.
Many people also have problems with a Blockseminar, though I personally always thought it a great thing to take an extra course with my own pace of preparation during the semester.
Our fabulous reader is HERE, and you can pick it up at Frau Niegsch's office. The reader contains ALL short texts and a bunch of secondary literature, with short intros telling you what to do with it.
As I said before, please have ALL texts read BEFORE you come to class, this is really important. We only have a few hours on this or that text, with presentations and discussions we probably won't have time to read the texts in class.
You can read far more effectively in your own space and with all your resources at hand to answer any questions you have about the texts, you can take notes, look up vocabulary, etc...
The order of the texts you read does not matter, though I did structure the course in this way: usually AR courses start with Emerson as the forefather of it all, but he is rather abstract and philosophical, so I chose an easier author, at least more readable one first, namely Hawthorne, who is a good introduction.
I personally think Hawthorne - Thoreau - Emerson - Whitman - Melville is a good order, just because Hawthorne is a good read and his texts can be easily remembered, Thoreau is fun and lively, then you need some more abstract foundations for the texts in the form of Emerson, followed by the radical innovator Whitman, and everything culminates in the masterpieces by Melville. Again, this is an idea, you don't NEED to do this, and if you are well into Moby Dick, then go on reading, but make sure you read the info I posted on the blog on how to read effectively and with our course goals in mind. The texts don't really build on each other, but their ideas and concepts mix and connect.
Please do not hesitate to drop me a line if you have any further questions, go ahead and read the material I put online to help you on the blog, use the blog as a platform and contact each other and me if you need any help.
Now, obviously there are "simpler" and "more complex" texts. Already, I put these terms in quotation marks, but at least when it comes to readability, be it syntactically or psychologically, there are vastly different texts here.
Now mind you, it's all good, we are all friends here, and you've got somebody the good German tax payers invested a lot of money into to be able to help you through this stuff.
They all, as we say in German "kochen auch nur mit Wasser"!
So whether it is a novel, poem, or article, don't panic, we'll get it sorted out, just don't worry.
Make sure you follow a common approach of literary studies:
-Read the foreword of your edition. Ideally buy editions that have a good foreword, written by someone in the field. There are decent ones, and usually big publishers will take the time to look for someone qualified. If you want to, check out the Norton Critical Edition or similar, they come pre-loaded with a ton of footnotes, explanations, references, criticism, and other valuable material.
-Look at the text's structure (books, chapters, sections, verses, ...) and keep it in mind when reading the text. How does the structure relate to the content? Also, check when the text was first published and quickly browse the major historical facts of that time, what was on people's minds and does the text relate to events? If no, then why not?
-Rest assured that nothing "just happens to be written like that" in texts we assign you in literature classes, so if something seems strange, note it down and ask, it probably is something important. If the text(s) "fight back," if they are resisting your reading of them in any way (syntax, lexicon, content, characters, message), reflect on that too. Authors are aware of the option of making a text difficult or strange to read, and we want to watch ourselves read texts.
For our course, also look at the links I provided and let us all here know if you found a good site online, we will surely appreciate it!
It is important, however, for you to dive in and really sink your teeth into these texts, to wrestle with them, write down your questions, and so forth, so let's go.
(Montag, 23. Juli 2007)
Link
