Reading & Composition
“And Now for Something Completely Different”: Absurdity Through the Ages
“The absurd is born of the confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world.”
—Camus, “The Myth of Sisyphus”
“No, no. It’s spelt Raymond Luxury-Yacht but it’s pronounced Throat-Wobbler Mangrove!”
—Monty Python’s Flying Circus
What do we mean when we call something absurd, and what does it mean to take the absurd seriously? What can absurdist literature teach us about human experience, and our (in)ability to comprehend it rationally? When reason falls away, what is illuminated? What are the limits of rationality as exposed by the absence of logic? This course will investigate what we mean when we call something absurd, and what this genre or notion can teach us as it intersects with the everyday versus the fantastical, and comedy versus horror. Our objects of investigation will span a range of eras and genres, including medieval German texts, nineteenth-century Russian short stories, and twentieth century philosophers. Together, we will contemplate various aspects of the term, from its existential connotations as explored by Soren Kierkegaard and Albert Camus through the British comedy troupe Monty Python.
This is a Reading & Composition course, and our main objective will be to develop critical reading and writing skills. To that end, substantial class time will be devoted to writing workshops and peer reviews. In addition to completing frequent essay assignments and revisions, students will be expected to read up to 100 pages of literary and scholarly texts each week, and to participate actively in class and virtual discussions.