Literature & Culture: Contemporary Apocalypse

Catalog description

The world is going to end. This is inevitable. But what might it mean? Going back to the apocalptic floods featured in ancient Mesopotamian and Hebrew texts, we've been aenamored with the idea that the end of the world will pull back the curtain on life's mysteries, wash away the distractions and disappointments of our daily lives, and reveal what truly matters. this class will explore the kinds of stories we have been telling about the world's end-with a focus on post-1945 apocalptic literature. From the Cold War's threat of nuclear annihilation to climate change and the Antrhopocene to a renewed awareness of pandemics' destruction, the past 70 years have provided abudant fodder for imagining how the world might end. Grounding this explortion in ancient religious texts, we will analyze contemporary apocalyptic literature, filmes, and other cultrual artifacts to understand what our attraction to apocalytpic narratives suggests about ourselves and our priorities. We will also consider how our engagement with global apocalypse reflects our uncertainties regarding purpose, life, and death.