Twentieth Century Literature: Labyrinths in Literature and Film

Catalog description

Labyrinths can be found all over the planet in a variety of forms: in nature (the inner ear, the brain, spiders’ webs, shells, snails, ammonite fossils, etc.), as buildings and cities, as sewers and subways, as visual representations, in mythology and literature, as architecture, as spiritual centers of cathedrals, in dances, in mandalas, in children’s games, in puzzles, in films and video games. Even the “World Wide Web” with its various links can be seen as a form of labyrinth. This course focuses on exploring why the symbol of the labyrinth is among the most fascinating, perplexing, and enduring as we read 20th-21st-century fiction and see films that draw on theme of the labyrinth as it has appeared in the mythology, art, literature, and popular culture of societies from around the globe. As we read surrealist, magic realist, and postmodern fiction by such authors as Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar, André Gide, Gabriel García Márquez, and Jennifer Egan and see several labyrinthine films, we’ll consider how each medium views and employs the symbol of the labyrinth or maze.