Reading & Composition
SWASHBUCKLING IN LITERATURE AND FILM
Tales of travelers questing across the globe have been a cornerstone of popular culture from Homer’s Odyssey to Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark. Yet, while these adventure narratives continue to seduce large audiences, we must also consider the political and social ramifications of such texts. What ethical problems might authors face in trying to represent foreignness and “the exotic”? How does the notion of “adventure” become part of imperialist and nationalist projects from the eighteenth century to now? Is adventure a gendered enterprise? And how do contemporary writers rewrite and reconfigure earlier adventure narratives? We will consider these questions (among many) through active class discussion and regular writing assignments.
Texts May Include:
The Odyssey (selections), Homer
“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The Tempest, William Shakespeare
The Tempest, directed by Julie Taymor
Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe
Foe, J.M. Coetzee
Shanghai, Yokomitsu Riichi
Basara, Tamura Yumi
Kidnapped, Robert Louis Stevenson
Gentlemen of the Road, Michael Chabon
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Steven Spielberg