The city and the myth: Venice in 20th & 21st century literature
- Course Code: HLT254
- Dates: 31/05/24 - 05/07/24
- Time: 12:30 - 14:30
- Taught: Fri, Daytime
- Duration: 6 sessions (over 6 weeks)
- Location: Keeley Street
- Tutor: David Barnes
Course Code: HLT254
Duration: 6 sessions (over 6 weeks)
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What is the course about?
Venice retains an extraordinary fascination for modern writers. In this course, we explore the historical, aesthetic and political contexts of writings about Venice in the modern age. We will look at poems, novels, short stories and essays. From Marcel Proust to Ezra Pound, and from Jeanette Winterson to Kazuo Ishiguro, the city has had an imaginative impact like no other. In the course, we will explore why it is that this city has continued to exert such a creative pull, and think about what depictions of this watery metropolis tell us about modern society: politics, capitalism, history and art.
What will we cover?
This six-week course will showcase the importance of Venice as a muse for 20th and 21st century writers. From the age of modernism, and texts by Thomas Mann, T.S. Eliot and Marcel Proust, to postmodern fiction, the course will show how the meanings of Venice has shifted over the course of the last hundred years. On the way, we examine some of the darker and more disturbing themes in some of this literature; for example, the Fascism and anti-semitism of Pound’s and Eliot’s work. Other themes we will look at include: tourism, fantasy, and alternative histories. Many writers – like Proust or Winterson - wrote about Venice as a dream or a nightmare; a place that wasn’t real. And yet the political contexts of this city’s modern history (wars, the rise of Fascism, nationalism and Venice’s place in the modern Italian state) have shaped these literary texts in fascinating ways.
Week by week breakdown of the course:
1. Dreams: Extracts from Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time (1913-27), Douglas Goldring, Dream Cities (1913)
2. Nightmares: Thomas Mann, Death in Venice (1912)
3. Fascism and Anti-Semitism: Ezra Pound, ‘Canto 3’, ‘Canto 25’, ‘Canto 26’ (1925), T.S. Eliot, ‘Burbank with a Baedeker, Bleistein with a Cigar’ (1920)
4. Venice and the Creative Essay: Joseph Brodsky, Watermark (1989), Regis Debray, Against Venice (2002)
5. Alternative Histories: Jeanette Winterson, The Passion (1987), Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities (1972)
6. Tourists: Daphne Du Maurier, ‘Don’t Look Now’ (1971), Kazuo Ishiguro, ‘Crooner’, ‘Cellists’ (Nocturnes, 2009).
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
- Be able to talk confidently about a range of literary texts
- Be comfortable reading across very different genres: for example, poem, essay, novel
- Be able to develop your own ideas on the topic eloquently and creatively
- Be able to authoritatively develop ideas about the relationship between modern literature and the city, especially in regard to Venice
- Be able to explore confidently the relationship between literary text and historical/political context.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
Some literary study might be an advantage for this course, but the most important skills needed are: 1) enthusiasm about books and willingness to read new things! 2) good listening skills, and openness to free-flowing discussion and 3) preparedness: devoting some time to thinking about the topics beforehand.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
There will usually be a lecture or mini-lecture from the tutor followed by small group work and discussion. You may be asked to focus on a particular short extract from a novel, or at a particular poem together. Work outside class will be the readings for each week.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
Extracts from most texts will be provided by the tutor (via online links and pdfs).
It would be useful to acquire (buy or borrow) Jeanette Winterson’s The Passion (1987).
It might also be worthwhile having watched Nicolas Roeg’s 1974 film Don’t Look Now.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
Look for other Literature courses under History, Culture & Writing/Literature at www.citylit.ac.uk.
David Barnes is an academic who has held lecturing positions at the universities of Birmingham and Oxford. His teaching specializes in modernist literature, with additional interests in Victorian writing and contemporary fiction. He held a visiting research fellowship at the University of Virginia and recently produced, wrote and presented the radio series, ‘Weird England’ for Radio 3. David’s essays and criticism have been published by Penned in the Margins, Slightly Foxed Quarterly, Times Literary Supplement, Times Higher Education, The Times, and The Guardian. His poems and short fiction have been anthologised in The Wolf, Intercapillary Space, and the Henningham Family Press. He is currently at work on a major writing project on the city and human-animal encounters in modern London.
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.