Laughter and Politics
COL 107
Spring 2012
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
HIST 107 |
This course proposes a historical exploration of the relationship between humor and political order. Divided in three blocks (democracy, carnival, and commodity), the course travels from the ancient Athenian democracy and the Roman empire (where political comedy and satire acquired their canonical form and radical status), through the carnivals of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (where hierarchies and conventions were ridiculed and temporarily put upside down), to the modern world (where political laughter risks becoming a simple commodity for mass consumption). Is laughter inherently good or bad for the political sphere? Does it help creating a healthy citizenship? Does it liberate or alienate the individuals? The course will explore these and other questions by analyzing learned and popular expressions of political humor, with an eye in the classical tradition (Aristophanes, Erasmus, Swift) and the other in its contemporary formulations (comic books, TV shows, Web sites, and street art). |
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Essential Capabilities:
Effective Citizenship, Interpretation |
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA COL |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 | | Special Attributes: FYI |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Hannah Arendt, THE PROMISE OF POLITICS. Schocken, 2007. ISBN: 978-0805212136
Simon Critchley, ON HUMOUR. Routledge, 2002. ISBN: 978-0415251211
Aristophanes, LYSISTRATA (trans. Sarah Ruden). Hackett, 2003. ISBN: 978-0872206038
Aristophanes, CLOUDS (trans. Peter Meineck). Hackett, 2000. ISBN: 978-0-87220-516-1
Mikhail Bakhtin, RABELAIS AND HIS WORLD. Indiana UP, 1984. ISBN: 978-0253203410
Erasmus of Rotterdam, THE PRAISE OF FOLLY AND OTHER WRITINGS (trans. Robert M. Adams). Norton, 1989. ISBN: 978-0393957495
Anonymous, THE LIFE OF LAZARILLO DE TORMES (trans. W. S. Merwin). New York Review of Books, 2004. ISBN: 978-1590171325
Jonathan Swift, GULLIVER¿S TRAVELS. (ed. Robert DeMaria, Jr., revised edition. Penguin, 2003. ISBN: 978-0141439495
Bertolt Brecht, THE THREEPENNY OPERA (trans. Ralph Manheim and John Willett) Penguin, 2007. ISBN: 978-0143105169
Joe Sacco, NOTES FROM A DEFEATIST. Fantagraphics, 2003. ISBN: 978-1560975106
Banksy, WALL AND PIECE. Random, 2007. ISBN: 978-1844137879
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| Instructor(s): Castro-Ibaseta,Javier Times: .M.W... 01:10PM-02:30PM; Location: PAC422; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 19 | | SR major: X | JR major: X | | |
| Seats Available: 0 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: X | JR non-major: X | SO: X | FR: 19 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 2 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 2 |
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