Presence of the Past

Catalog description

This course explores a wide range of material that locates and authorizes itself in relation to a past both real and imagined. The primary questions will be interpretive but also methodological in the sense that they will prompt us to examine the assumptions we bring to our own textual and historical practices: What are the uses of 'antiquity'? How do texts and their readers negotiate the imperatives of remembrance and reinvention? Can tradition be assimilated to the present in meaningful ways, and which modes of reading and interpretation emerge within the scope of this process? Drawn from disparate contexts and genres, the readings in this class will appeal to a broad audience. Students will consider the status of 'historical' fiction, the 'discovery' of ancient religious writings, the survival of Greek and Roman mythology into later periods, the vogue among some early English writers for invented genealogies, and the various controversies at the moment surrounding US Civil War monuments. Previously offered as CUOT 1035.