Anatomy of Emotions: Literature and Psychoanalysis

Catalog description

'Where could you find a history of love, of avarice, of envy, of conscience, of cruelty?' asked philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, whose deeply literary writings have also shaped the field of psychoanalysis. This course will resort to Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, and Jacques Lacan as theoretical groundwork to reflect on processes of artistic creation and how they (and we) deal with, and sublimate, emotions and affects. Our discussions will be based on close-readings across a wide range of genres and traditions, and structured around six thematic dossiers: failure, love, depression, grief, joy, and awe. 002171