Studies in Gender, Sexuality & Representation (307-0-20)

Topic

Romantic Comedies, Old & New

Instructors

Tristram Nash Wolff

Meeting Info

Kresge Centennial Hall 4-410: Tues, Thurs 11:00AM - 12:20PM

Overview of class

This course maps the literary and cinematic DNA of the contemporary "rom com," from William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and the screwball comedies of 1930s Classical Hollywood to the 1990s blockbusters and the Netflix revolution. Along the way we may ask: What do the comedic conventions of Western classical drama, the medieval genre of "romance," or the political aesthetics of Romanticism have to do with the romantic comedy as it exists today? The anarchic space of the "comedy" genre is usually understood to include a subversive potential, using absurdism or satire to reimagine power dynamics or to question social norms governing gender, sexuality, race, and family. One question we will ask in this course is: Does the romantic comedy threaten to tame that subversive potential? Or does it promise to release its chaotic energies in ever renewed ways? Students will regularly be asked to watch two movies in a single week. Evaluations are based on participation and preparation; writing several analytic papers for the course; and presenting on an episode, scene, or clip from a recent TV show that helps us understood the genre and its history.

Class Materials (Required)

Required Texts:
William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew
Pierre-Augustin de Beaumarchais, The Marriage of Figaro
Jane Austen, Emma

Films for this course MAY be drawn from this list: His Girl Friday, The Lady Eve, Parting Glances, Poetic Justice, The Wedding Banquet, When Harry Met Sally, Pretty Woman, Clueless, Out of Sight, Saving Face, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones's Diary, Ten Things I Hate About You, Deliver Us From Eva, Obvious Child, Appropriate Behavior

Class Attributes

Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area