Poetry and Philosophy
GRST 290
Spring 2007 not offered
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| Crosslisting:
COL 280 |
Since the beginning of Western philosophical thinking in ancient Greece, philosophy has had a productive and problematic relationship with literature, especially poetry. Plato famously commented on "the old quarrel between philosophy and poetry" and wanted poetry banned from the city for its presumed betrayal of truth. If poetry is characterized by feeling, subjectivity, metaphor, and pure form, and philosophy by reason, abstraction, logic, and objective truth, where and how do the two intersect? This course will investigate the rivalry and attraction between these two genres by focusing on modern poets such as Georg Trakl, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Stefan George, as well as two poets who have particularly fascinated modern philosophers: Friedrich Hölderlin and Paul Celan. We will read selected poems and analyze a variety of philosophical responses to those poems by 20th-century and contemporary German and French philosophers. |
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Essential Capabilities:
Speaking, Writing |
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA GRST |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (GRST-MN)(GRST) |
Major Readings:
Poems by Hölderlin, George, Trakl, Rilke, and Celan,
Martin Heidegger, POETRY, LANGUAGE, THOUGHT; ON THE WAY TO LANGUAGE; ELUCIDATIONS OF HÖLDERLIN'S POETRY
Walter Benjamin, "Two Poems by Friedrich Hölderlin"
Theodor W. Adorno, "Parataxis: On Hölderlin's Late Poetry," "Speech on Lyric Poetry and Society"
Maurice Blanchot, "The 'Sacred' Speech of Hölderlin;" "Rilke and Death's Demand"
Hans-Georg Gadamer, GADAMER ON CELAN: "WHO AM I AND WHO ARE YOU?"
Jacques Derrida, SOVEREIGNTIES IN QUESTION: THE POETICS OF PAUL CELAN
Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, POETRY AS EXPERIENCE; "POETRY'S COURAGE"
Jean-Luc Nancy, "THE CALCULATION OF THE POET"
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Examinations and Assignments:
10 short reading responses, two 4-5-page papers. |
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