Studies in Literary Genres (310-0-20)

Topic

Satire

Instructors

Helen F Thompson

Meeting Info

Parkes Hall 224: Mon, Wed 12:30PM - 1:50PM

Overview of class

What do Jonathan Swift's pamphlet A Modest Proposal and Jordan Peele's horror film Get Out have in common? This class examines the genre that Swift and Peele exploit to devastating effect: satire. We'll devote special attention to satire's key paradox: for those who get it (or think they do), satire signifies by not signifying what it literally says. We'll explore satire with a focus on the "long" eighteenth century (1660 to c. 1825) to ponder its ethical concerns with social and political life; sexuality, sex work, and marriage; social class, corruption, and criminality; and empire and race. The class ends with one contemporary American satire (TBD) as well as contemporary film and TV, including Get Out and Black Mirror.

Class Materials (Required)

Anonymous, The Woman of Colour, A Tale (1801). Broadview Literary Text. ISBN: 9781551111766
Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey (1818). Broadview Literary Texts. ISBN: 9781551114798
Henry Fielding, Jonathan Wild (1743). Oxford's World Classics. ISBN: 9780199549757
John Gay, The Beggar's Opera (1728). Dover Thrift Editions. ISBN: 9780486408880
Abu Talib, The Travels of Mirza Abu Taleb Khan in Asia, Africa, and Europe. Broadview
Literary Texts (1810). ISBN: 9781551116723
Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels (1726). Oxford's World Classics. ISBN: 9780199536849

Class Attributes

Advanced Expression
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area