Literature & Culture: Epiphany

Catalog description

This course brings the study of literature together with religious studies and the history of science to explore the concept of the "epiphany", a sudden insight so powerful that the experience can reorganize time (e.g., a lifetime, an historical period) into "before" and "after." We will trace the history of the term itself, from its origins in ancient Greece and applications in Christian theology and practice, to its appearance in literature as a concept, structural element, and term of literary analysis, to its most recent applications in the fields of science and innovation. Although our investigations will encompass various types of insights from different disciplines that have loosely been called "epiphanies" (including spiritual revelations, dramatic recognition scenes, and scientific discoveries), we will concentrate in particular on how epiphany functions in literature, the ways in which literature has been shaped by notions of epiphany from other disciplines, and how literature has shaped epiphanies in other fields, and in culture at large.