Required texts:
All readings are either on public websites or are downloadable as .pdf files; both types are linked below.
Readings are to be completed by the date indicated. Before midnight on the due date for each reading or set of readings, a one-page paper will be also be due via Canvas. (I call it a paper, but no physical paper will be involved this semester.) In this paper, react to the readings and ask one strong and important critical question about them: this could be about the ideas in them, their literary form, their connection to history, culture, politics, anything that moves you strongly to write. On days when a reading and the associated one-page paper are due, we WILL NOT HOLD CLASS.
I will "curate" your critical questions and lead a discussion during the meeting following each due date. These will be face-to-face discussions, but if we are forced online, I will try to develop some sort of asynchronous online discussion.
Lecture meetings will be standard presentations. If we are forced online, all lecture material is in PowerPoint presentations on Canvas. Just follow along. There will be no video lectures of any kind. Feel free to read more widely on your own; that's what education is about :)
Attendance and grading:
I cannot require attendance during a pandemic. Conversely, if I get sick, please be patient with my own attendance.
No matter how the course is ultimately "delivered," your grade will be based on the number of acceptable papers submitted on time. Eight of nine gets you an A. Seven is a B, six a C, five a D, and less than five an F. Most papers will be acceptable. Examples of failures will be those that fail to ask a question or are irrelevant to the readings.
Wed 26 Aug: introductions
Mon 31 Aug: LECTURE: Nordic countries and the Middle Ages
Wed 2 Sept: the poetic Edda: Lokasenna and Thrymskvitha. NO CLASS MEETING
Mon 7 Sept: LABOR DAY
Wed 9 Sept: discussion of the Edda stories
Mon 14 Sept: sagas: Hrafnkel and Audun. NO CLASS MEETING
Wed 16 Sept: discussion of the sagas
Mon 21 Sept: LECTURE: the early-modern period
Wed 23 Sept: plays by Ludvig Holberg: Erasmus Montanus and The Political Tinker. NO CLASS MEETING
Mon 28 Sept: discussion of Holberg's plays
Wed 30 Sept: Holberg, Niels Klim's Journey under the Ground. NO CLASS MEETING
Mon 5 Oct: discussion of Niels Klim
Wed 7 Oct: LECTURE: Romanticism & Andersen
Mon 12 Oct: Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Mermaid, The Swineherd, The Bottle Neck, The Red Shoes. NO CLASS MEETING
Wed 14 Oct: discussion of Andersen
Mon 19 Oct: LECTURE: realism
Wed 21 Oct: Ibsen, A Doll's House and An Enemy of the People. NO CLASS MEETING
Mon 26 Oct: discussion of Ibsen
Wed 28 Oct: Andersen Nexø, Pelle the Conqueror, Part I, Chapters 1-13. NO CLASS MEETING
Mon 2 Nov: discussion of Andersen Nexø
Wed 4 Nov: LECTURE: modernism
Mon 9 Nov: Strindberg, A Dream Play. NO CLASS MEETING
Wed 11 Nov: discussion of Strindberg
Mon 16 Nov: Blixen, Babette's Feast. NO CLASS MEETING
Wed 18 Nov: discussion of Blixen
syllabus: The effective version of the syllabus is always at https://tmorris.utasites.cloud/courses/3333f20/3333mainf20.html. If you are looking at a print or .pdf version, please make sure to consult the online version for updates.