Studies in Genre: Tragedy

Catalog description

As a literary genre, tragedy refers to much more than just a sad story. In this course, we will explore the history of tragic forms and ideas in literature (primarily in staged drama and in film) and grapple with some important questions: why do people remain drawn to, and even find pleasure in representations of horrific events? Do tragic representations bear a politics, and how have shifting identity politics (over time and across spaces) determined who counts as a tragic subject? What is tragedy’s relation to violence and loss, on the one hand, and communal affirmation on the other? How does tragedy (both old and new forms) help us address our contemporary preoccupations with democracy and its failures; war, refugeeism, and borders; citizenship, social inequity, and the politics of race and gender? We’ll read a selection of plays by ancient Greek authors, by early modern authors (Shakespeare, John Ford, Jean Racine), and by contemporary authors (Wole Soyinka, Suzan-Lori Parks, Sarah Kane, Ayad Ahktar). We’ll also watch some films and discuss some philosophy and cultural theo