EXISTENTIAL LITERATURE

FALL SEMESTER 2005

6:00-8:30 Tuesdays

Robert Evans and Eve Browning

WEEKLY READING SCHEDULE : Under Construction

COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Under Construction, but the following Texts are the ones to be used.


Robert Evans, ABAH 305; Eve Browning ABAH 307

Visiting Hours: Evans - Browning -; email revans@mail.d.umn.edu; ebrownin@mail.d.umn.edu with questions or for an appointment.

A. class alias with your UMD address to send essential information about the course, and will post overheads and other information on the website.

2005 COURSE TEXTS (* = to be purchased) and Web Sites

*Guignon and Pereboom, Existentialism: Basic Writings ($22.00 on Amazon)

*John Fowles, The Magus

Other works, Films and Secondary Sources

Translations of passages and outline

*Fydor Dostoevsky, Notes from the Underground, (you have to scroll down the page to get to the real stuff!) is on line at this site, but it only costs a buck and a half!

Study Guide for Notes (available in lots of editions, collections etc)

Sparks Notes

Jean Paul Sartre, No Exit, Read or Print out copy from web site. Audio tape will be played in class; old phonography record available in UMD library, PR 144. I KNOW you will read this, but you may get some help from Sparks Notes analysis of No Exit

*Sartre Nausea, La Nausee, 1938. Won Sartre the Nobel Prize which he turned down. A difficult but essential work. Again here is summary and analysis from Sparks Notes. Nausea. Sartre Resartus, an article from the NYRB, which reviews opening productions of No Exit and The Flies.

*Franz Kaffka, The Metamorphosis and Other Stories

*Iris Murdoch, Under the Net

Internet Resources

The film, Iris, will be shown in class. Review of Peter Conradi's, Young Iris, by John Updike  Iris Pictures, chronology, comments on books: http://www.robotwisdom.com/jorn/iris.html

Essay on Under the Net: http://www.interchg.ubc.ca/rw/eng414-1.htm

 Article by Stuart Hampshire on Peter Conradi's, Iris Murdoch: A Life.

* Availabexistential_literature2.htmle in UMD Book Store

SOME OF THESE SHOULD BE AVAILABLE IN USED BOOKS STORES i.e. Carlson's, Superior St - downtown and there is a small one on 19th Ave E and Superior. ADDall is a good web site to compare prices of texts. Could also check the Duluth Public Library catalogue.

 Here are some web sites on Sartre:

Jean Paul Sartre, Self deception, Existentialism has lots of links. I haven't read all this, so cannot vouch for accuracy.

A long essay on the background of existentialism, and a detailed analysis of No Exit. A site with lots of links, and another one with biography and chronology of Sartre's Life.

Other Authors with existential themes.

Here are some other authors who often have existential themes: Simone Beauvior, Albert Camus, Franz Kafka are in the existential pantheon.

There are some existential themes in some of the works of the following, try www.amazon.com or www. barnesandnoble.com which sometimes have short reviews:

*John Fowles, The Magus, (there is a 1st and 2nd edition of this; if you get a used copy be sure it is the second.)

John Lanchester, Mr Phillips

Nathaniel West, Miss Lonely Hearts; Colon Wilson, The Outsider

Walker Percy, The Movie Maker

Andre Gide, The Counterfeiters, The Immoralist

Jean Genet (maybe)

Simone Beauvoir

Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, Jumpers (plays)

Herman Hesse, Siddharta (and other works)

Eugene O' Neill, Long Days Journey into Night

Eugene Ionesco

Miguel Unamuno, The Tragic Sense of Life

Jorge Luis Borges

Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (good book, hard to write about)

Tom Robbins, Even Cowgirls Sing the Blues, Skinny Legs and All

Ken Casey, Electric Cool Aid Acid Test

 Nice web sites: http://www.pagesz.net/~stevek/europe/lecture12.html

 http://www.louisville.edu/~wmsmit01/existentialism.html

 Relevant Videos

 Rebel Without a Cause, This famous James Dean film captures the sense of the "outsider" which would be a better translation of Camus' The Stranger.

The French Lieutenant's Woman ) is another alienation film; based on John Fowles (or try this) novel, it captures the life of a 19th century woman who is alienated from her time.

Leaving Los Vegas, with Nicholas Cage and Elizabeth Shue (review).

Badlands, a Terrence Malik film with Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Taylor won academy award. Based on Edward Albee play. Sparks notes on the play.

The Collector, Terence Stamp. Film of John Fowles novel.

 OTHER SOURCES:


Links to other reference sites are on...Bob Evans's Home Page

This page is maintained by revans (revans@mail.d.umn.edu)
Last modified on Tues, Sept 3, 2002