Professor Keri Walsh
Fordham University
Department of English
ENGL 3349 R01 (4 credits)
Wednesday 11:30 - 2:00
Keating Hall 104
Course Description: Virginia Woolf, T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald and many more: nearly all modernist writers had in common a fascination with film. In the first half of this course we focus on three Hollywood film genres: the musical, the western, and Film Noir, and place them within their literary, cinematic and cultural contexts. In the second half of the course, we change our focus to Europe, exploring cinema as an art form that challenged and inspired modernist writers to think in new ways about the purposes and techniques of their craft. We will read works such as Virginia Woolf’s 1926 essay “The Cinema" and her novel The Waves, and T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, which borrowed many cinematic techniques. Our goal throughout the course is to develop an understanding of the two-way creative traffic between cinematic and literary artists in the twentieth century.
Textbooks:
Required:
T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land
Norton Critical Editions
W. W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (December 28, 2000)
ISBN-10: 0393974995
Virginia Woolf, The Waves
Harvest/Hbj Book
Harvest Books (1978)
ISBN-10: 0156949601
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Scribner; Reissue edition (September 30, 2004)
ISBN-10: 0743273567
Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast: The Restored Edition
Scribner; Reprint edition (July 20, 2010)
ISBN-10: 143918271X
REQUIRED FILMS: (all other films in the course can be viewed for free on the class website-- these three are exceptions and must be bought/rented/obtained online):
Stanley Donen, Singin' in the Rain (purchase on Amazon or Itunes streaming or as a DVD)
Baz Luhrmann, The Great Gatsby (purchase on Amazon or Itunes streaming or as a DVD)
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris (purchase on Amazon or Itunes streaming or as a DVD)
Grade Breakdown
Essay #1: The Lady from Shanghai review: Due Fri February 14 (by e-mail, by midnight) 10%
Genre group assignment: Due Wed February 26 (in class) 20%
Essay #2 (Final Paper, 10-12 pages):
Due Monday May 12 by midnight, submitted by e-mail to [email protected] 30%
Final Exam: Wednesday, May 7, Noon, in our usual room (only covers material beginning with Gatsby) 30%
Participation/Conscientiousness/Attendance: 10%
Fordham University
Department of English
ENGL 3349 R01 (4 credits)
Wednesday 11:30 - 2:00
Keating Hall 104
Course Description: Virginia Woolf, T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald and many more: nearly all modernist writers had in common a fascination with film. In the first half of this course we focus on three Hollywood film genres: the musical, the western, and Film Noir, and place them within their literary, cinematic and cultural contexts. In the second half of the course, we change our focus to Europe, exploring cinema as an art form that challenged and inspired modernist writers to think in new ways about the purposes and techniques of their craft. We will read works such as Virginia Woolf’s 1926 essay “The Cinema" and her novel The Waves, and T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, which borrowed many cinematic techniques. Our goal throughout the course is to develop an understanding of the two-way creative traffic between cinematic and literary artists in the twentieth century.
Textbooks:
Required:
T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land
Norton Critical Editions
W. W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (December 28, 2000)
ISBN-10: 0393974995
Virginia Woolf, The Waves
Harvest/Hbj Book
Harvest Books (1978)
ISBN-10: 0156949601
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Scribner; Reissue edition (September 30, 2004)
ISBN-10: 0743273567
Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast: The Restored Edition
Scribner; Reprint edition (July 20, 2010)
ISBN-10: 143918271X
REQUIRED FILMS: (all other films in the course can be viewed for free on the class website-- these three are exceptions and must be bought/rented/obtained online):
Stanley Donen, Singin' in the Rain (purchase on Amazon or Itunes streaming or as a DVD)
Baz Luhrmann, The Great Gatsby (purchase on Amazon or Itunes streaming or as a DVD)
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris (purchase on Amazon or Itunes streaming or as a DVD)
Grade Breakdown
Essay #1: The Lady from Shanghai review: Due Fri February 14 (by e-mail, by midnight) 10%
Genre group assignment: Due Wed February 26 (in class) 20%
Essay #2 (Final Paper, 10-12 pages):
Due Monday May 12 by midnight, submitted by e-mail to [email protected] 30%
Final Exam: Wednesday, May 7, Noon, in our usual room (only covers material beginning with Gatsby) 30%
Participation/Conscientiousness/Attendance: 10%
UNIT ONE
Wed Jan 15 : Introduction: Slapstick Comedy
Lesson One: Course Introduction, Delmore Schwartz, “In Dreams Begin Responsibilities,” “Screeno” (PDF sent by e-mail)
Lesson Two: Charlie Chaplin, The Gold Rush (1925), available on youtube and on the class website
Wed Jan 22: The Hollywood Musical
Lesson Three: The Jazz Singer (1927)
Critical Reading: Jeffrey Knapp, '"Sacred Songs Popular Prices:" Secularization in The Jazz Singer.'
Critical Inquiry, Vol. 34, No. 2 (Winter 2008), pp. 313-335
Lesson Four: Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Critical Reading: Carol Clover, "Dancin' in the Rain," Critical Inquiry, Vol.21, No.4 (Summer1995), pp. 722-747.
Introduction to Assignment #1: Comedy, Musical, Western, Noir
Wed Jan 29: The Hollywood Western
Lesson Five: Edwin S. Porter, The Great Train Robbery (1903)
Available on class website
Lesson Six: John Ford, Stagecoach (1939) (available on Hulu and class website)
Critical Reading: Michael J. Blouin, "Auditory Ambivalence: Music in the Western from High Noon to Brokeback Mountain'"
The Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 43, No. 6, 2010.
Robert B. Pippen,"What is a Western: Politics and Self-Knowledge in John Ford's The Searchers."
Wed Feb 5: Film Noir
Lesson Seven: Introduction to Film Noir
Critical Reading:
In 2 PDF Files called "The Film Noir Reader" on the Lady from Shanghai page of this website:
“Towards a Definition of Film Noir” (1955)
"Paint it black: The Family Tree of Film Noir" (1970)
"Notes on Film Noir" (1972)
"Some Visual Motifs of Film Noir" (1974)
In a PDF File called "Naremore More Than Night" on the Lady from Shanghai page
"The History of an Idea," from More Than Night: Film Noir in its Contexts by James Naremore
Lesson Eight: Introduction to Film Noir part II
Introduction to Essay #2: Review of The Lady from Shanghai due on Wed Feb 12 in class.
Orson Welles, The Lady from Shanghai (1948), Film Forum, 7:00 PM
Wed Feb 12: Film Noir (the lecture on The Lady From Shanghai that we would have had on the snow day)
Lesson Nine: Orson Welles, The Lady From Shanghai (1948)
Lesson Ten: Orson Welles, The Lady from Shanghai (1948)
Wed Feb 19: Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby (2013)
Lesson Eleven: F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Baz Luhrmann: The Great Gatsby
Lesson Twelve: Claude McKay, "Harlem Shadows," "The Harlem Dancer" (1922), Josephine Baker ("Banana Dance," "Zouzou" and other performance clips), Zelda Fitzgerald, "Our Own Movie Queen" (1925)
Wed Feb 26: Genre Assignment Presentations
Lesson Thirteen: Genre Assignment Due, Class presentations
Lesson Fourteen: Genre Assignment Due, Class Presentations
UNIT TWO
Wed March 4: Early French Cinema
Lesson Fifteen: George Méliès, A Trip to the Moon (1902)
Lesson Sixteen: Dimitri Kirsanoff, Ménilmontant (1926)
Wed March 12: Montage and Expressionism
Lesson Seventeen: Sergei Eisenstein, Battleship Potemkin (1925)
Critical Readings: Sergei Eisenstein, "The Structure of the Film" (1939)
David Bordwell, "The Idea of Montage in Soviet Art and Film" (1972)
Ron Briley, "The Artist in Service of the Revolution" (1996)
All readings are available as PDF files on the Battleship Potemkin page of this website.
Lesson Eighteen: Battleship Potemkin cont.
Wed March 19 Classes Cancelled, Spring Recess
Wed March 26: T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land
Lesson Nineteen: The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot (1922)
Lesson Twenty: The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot (1922)
Wed April 2: Surrealism
Lesson Twenty-One: André Breton, Surrealist manifestos (1924 and 1929)
Lesson Twenty-Two: Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel, Un Chien Andalou (1929) (available on website)
Introduction to the Final Paper Assignment
Wed April 9: Virginia Woolf's The Waves (1931)
Lesson Twenty-three: Maya Deren, Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) and essay by Deren
Lesson Twenty-four: Virginia Woolf, The Movies and Reality (1926)
Wed April 16: Virginia Woolf's The Waves, con't
Lesson Twenty-five: The Waves
Lesson Twenty-six: The Waves and discussion of subjective camera and point of view in cinema using a student film
Wed April 23: Gertrude Stein's Paris France (1940) and Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast (1964)
Lesson Twenty-seven: Gertrude Stein, Paris France (1940)
Lesson Twenty-eight: Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast (1964)
Wed April 30: Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris (2011)
In-class screening, Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris (2011) (100 min)
Sigmund Freud, "Dream and Delusion in Jensen's Gradiva" (1907)
Friday May 2: Make-up Class
11:30-12:30 Final Exam Review
12:30-1:30 Women and Film Discussion
1:30-2:30 Final Essay Tips/Q&A/Workshop
Mon May 12: Final Paper Due
Wed Jan 15 : Introduction: Slapstick Comedy
Lesson One: Course Introduction, Delmore Schwartz, “In Dreams Begin Responsibilities,” “Screeno” (PDF sent by e-mail)
Lesson Two: Charlie Chaplin, The Gold Rush (1925), available on youtube and on the class website
Wed Jan 22: The Hollywood Musical
Lesson Three: The Jazz Singer (1927)
Critical Reading: Jeffrey Knapp, '"Sacred Songs Popular Prices:" Secularization in The Jazz Singer.'
Critical Inquiry, Vol. 34, No. 2 (Winter 2008), pp. 313-335
Lesson Four: Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Critical Reading: Carol Clover, "Dancin' in the Rain," Critical Inquiry, Vol.21, No.4 (Summer1995), pp. 722-747.
Introduction to Assignment #1: Comedy, Musical, Western, Noir
Wed Jan 29: The Hollywood Western
Lesson Five: Edwin S. Porter, The Great Train Robbery (1903)
Available on class website
Lesson Six: John Ford, Stagecoach (1939) (available on Hulu and class website)
Critical Reading: Michael J. Blouin, "Auditory Ambivalence: Music in the Western from High Noon to Brokeback Mountain'"
The Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 43, No. 6, 2010.
Robert B. Pippen,"What is a Western: Politics and Self-Knowledge in John Ford's The Searchers."
Wed Feb 5: Film Noir
Lesson Seven: Introduction to Film Noir
Critical Reading:
In 2 PDF Files called "The Film Noir Reader" on the Lady from Shanghai page of this website:
“Towards a Definition of Film Noir” (1955)
"Paint it black: The Family Tree of Film Noir" (1970)
"Notes on Film Noir" (1972)
"Some Visual Motifs of Film Noir" (1974)
In a PDF File called "Naremore More Than Night" on the Lady from Shanghai page
"The History of an Idea," from More Than Night: Film Noir in its Contexts by James Naremore
Lesson Eight: Introduction to Film Noir part II
Introduction to Essay #2: Review of The Lady from Shanghai due on Wed Feb 12 in class.
Orson Welles, The Lady from Shanghai (1948), Film Forum, 7:00 PM
Wed Feb 12: Film Noir (the lecture on The Lady From Shanghai that we would have had on the snow day)
Lesson Nine: Orson Welles, The Lady From Shanghai (1948)
Lesson Ten: Orson Welles, The Lady from Shanghai (1948)
Wed Feb 19: Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby (2013)
Lesson Eleven: F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Baz Luhrmann: The Great Gatsby
Lesson Twelve: Claude McKay, "Harlem Shadows," "The Harlem Dancer" (1922), Josephine Baker ("Banana Dance," "Zouzou" and other performance clips), Zelda Fitzgerald, "Our Own Movie Queen" (1925)
Wed Feb 26: Genre Assignment Presentations
Lesson Thirteen: Genre Assignment Due, Class presentations
Lesson Fourteen: Genre Assignment Due, Class Presentations
UNIT TWO
Wed March 4: Early French Cinema
Lesson Fifteen: George Méliès, A Trip to the Moon (1902)
Lesson Sixteen: Dimitri Kirsanoff, Ménilmontant (1926)
Wed March 12: Montage and Expressionism
Lesson Seventeen: Sergei Eisenstein, Battleship Potemkin (1925)
Critical Readings: Sergei Eisenstein, "The Structure of the Film" (1939)
David Bordwell, "The Idea of Montage in Soviet Art and Film" (1972)
Ron Briley, "The Artist in Service of the Revolution" (1996)
All readings are available as PDF files on the Battleship Potemkin page of this website.
Lesson Eighteen: Battleship Potemkin cont.
Wed March 19 Classes Cancelled, Spring Recess
Wed March 26: T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land
Lesson Nineteen: The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot (1922)
Lesson Twenty: The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot (1922)
Wed April 2: Surrealism
Lesson Twenty-One: André Breton, Surrealist manifestos (1924 and 1929)
Lesson Twenty-Two: Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel, Un Chien Andalou (1929) (available on website)
Introduction to the Final Paper Assignment
Wed April 9: Virginia Woolf's The Waves (1931)
Lesson Twenty-three: Maya Deren, Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) and essay by Deren
Lesson Twenty-four: Virginia Woolf, The Movies and Reality (1926)
Wed April 16: Virginia Woolf's The Waves, con't
Lesson Twenty-five: The Waves
Lesson Twenty-six: The Waves and discussion of subjective camera and point of view in cinema using a student film
Wed April 23: Gertrude Stein's Paris France (1940) and Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast (1964)
Lesson Twenty-seven: Gertrude Stein, Paris France (1940)
Lesson Twenty-eight: Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast (1964)
Wed April 30: Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris (2011)
In-class screening, Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris (2011) (100 min)
Sigmund Freud, "Dream and Delusion in Jensen's Gradiva" (1907)
Friday May 2: Make-up Class
11:30-12:30 Final Exam Review
12:30-1:30 Women and Film Discussion
1:30-2:30 Final Essay Tips/Q&A/Workshop
Mon May 12: Final Paper Due