Seminar in Reading and Interpretation (300-0-21)

Topic

Time-traveling Heroes of the Multiverse

Instructors

Johana Staza Godfrey

Meeting Info

University Hall 418: Mon, Wed 12:30PM - 1:50PM

Overview of class

Since H.G. Wells's unnamed time-traveler first rocketed forward to the distant future, time travel has been a favorite thought exercise for writers, day-dreamers, and artists. What does it mean to fantasize about the future and to reimagine the past? How does time travel undercut or complicate commonplace linear narratives, progress narratives, or coming of age stories? In this course, we'll investigate the genre as a way into thinking about the fundamentals of literary analysis and methodology. We'll combine readings of literary classics like H.G. Wells's The Time Machine (1895) and Marghanita Laski's forgotten The Victorian Chaise-Longue (1953) with selections by modern sci-fi writers like M. John Harrison and N. K. Jemisin. We'll also consider mixed-media additions to the canon, including the anime The Girl who Leapt Through Time (2006) and the movies Interstellar (2014) and Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022). Together, we will confront questions about cultural difference and blur the boundaries between "past," "present," and "future."

Teaching Method

Short lectures, seminar discussion, collaborative group exercises.

Evaluation Method

Participation, discussion posts, short analytical paper, final project.

Class Materials (Required)

H.G. Wells, The Time Machine; Marghanita Laski, The Victorian Chaise-Longue; Virginia Woolf, Orlando (ISBN 0156031515); N.K. Jemisin, "Too Many Yesterdays, Not Enough Tomorrows"; the Daniels, Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Class Attributes

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