This course is based on primary sources, mostly testimonial accounts of personal and historical traumas, and addresses the problem of representing these events in writing. We will discuss how testimonial accounts relate to autobiographical and/or fictional narratives. Is it personal testimony a way of representing historical events from an individual point of view? Or does testimony put itself beyond the limits of representation and of subjectivity? Is this possible? What is a political testimony? Who are the “true” witnesses? The survivors? the “heroic” individual? The “ordinary people”? The disappeared? The writers? How can a literary work bear witness to an historical and personal trauma? What is the “truth” of testimony? Is it the truth of writing or is it something not accessible through writing? We will explore different approaches to testimony in literature and philosophy including María Zambrano's, Albert Camus', Jacques Derrida's, Primo Levi's, Giorgio Agamben's, and the ethics of Emmanuel Levinas.
| 03/30 | 04/6 | 04/13 | 04/20 | 04/27 |
| 05/04 | 05/11 | 08/18 | 06/01 |
Introductions and theoretical questions. In our first seminar we will discuss two main approaches:
a) The idea of political testimony
b) The ethics of writing
We will also study the etymology and semantic evolution of the words "witness" and "testimony."
Requested Readings:
a) Subjectivity and Testimony in Gramsci's Letters from Prison
-Antonio Gramsci, Letter to Tatiana, July 2, 1933 in Letters from prison, edited by Frank Rosengarten. Transl, by Ray Rosenthal. New York: Columbia University Press, 1994.
b) Italo Calvino's ethics of writing
-Italo Calvino, Introduction to The Path to the Spiders' Nests. Hopewell, NJ: The Ecco Press, 1993: v-xxv.
-Italo Calvino, "Memory of a Battle;" in The road to San Giovanni. New York: Pantheon Books, 1993: 75-89.
-Italo Calvino, "La Poubelle Agréée
"in The road to San Giovanni. New York: Pantheon Books, 1993: 93-126.
c) The etymology
Emile Benveniste, "Religion and superstition," in Indo-European language and societyCoral Gables, Fla., University of Miami Press, 1973.
*** Digital copies of all the readings for this seminar are available in the Blackboard ("Documents").
a) Emmanuel Levinas' approach to testimony as a religious and ethical phenomenon.
b) Subjectivity and Testimony in Gramsci's Letters from Prison.
Requested Readings
a) Emmanuel Levinas' approach to testimony as a religious phenomenon.
-E. Levinas, "Witnessing and Ethics ," in Id. God, Death and Time. Stanford, CA: Stanford UO, 2000: 198-201.
-E. Levinas, “Glory of the infinite and Witnessing” (ibi): 195-197. This book is n reserve.
-Siegfried Sassoon (1886–1967), "Everyone Sang" in S. Sassoon, Picture-Show. New York: E.P.Dutton, 1920.
Primo Levi (1919-1987), “Singing”; "Voices"; "The Survivor" in P. Levi, Collected Poems. Transl. Ruth Feldman and Brian Swann. London: Boston: Faber.
b) Subjectivity and Testimony in Gramsci's Letters from Prison
Antonio Gramsci, Letters from prison. Ed. Frank Rosengarten; Transl. Ray Rosenthal. New York: Columbia University Press, 1994: May 10 1928, I, p.206; September 12 1927, I, pp.138-139; February 27, 1928, I, pp.180-181; April 7 1931, vol. II, pp.25-27; December 19 1929, I, pp.298-300; May 18 1931, vol. II, pp.33-34; May 19 1930, I, pp.330-332; April 18, 1927, I, pp. 100-101; August 17 1931, vol. II, pp.54-57; May 2 1932, pp.614-616; June 6 1932, pp.631-634. *This book is on reserve.
Secondary sources:
- Frank Rosengarten, "Introduction", in Antonio Gramsci, Letters from priso, xvii-xxi ans 1-31
-Massimo Lollini, "La questione del soggetto nelle Lettere dal carcere di Antonio Gramsci tra testimonianza e letteratura," in Americanismi. Sulla ricezione del pensiero di Gramsci negli Stati Uniti, a cura di Mauro Pala. Cagliari: Centro di Studi Filologici Sardi, 2009, 145-167.
-Massimo Lollini, "Literature and Testimony in Gramsci's Letters from Prison. The Question of Subjectivity," Canadian Review of Comparative Literature, 23. 2 (June, 1996): 519-529.
PART II: TESTIMONY, TRAUMA AND THE MEMORY OF THE SHOAH
Requested Readings
a) Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz.New York: Collier Books, 1993.
"Author's Preface;" "The Journey;" "On the Bottom;" "Initiation;" "Ka-be;" "Our Nights;" "The work".
b) Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz
"A Good Day;" "This Side of Good and Evil;" "The Drowned and the Saved;" "Chemical examination;" "The Canto of Ulysses;" "The Events of the Summer;" "October 1944;" "Krauss;" "Die drei Leute vom Labor;" "The Last One;" "The Story of Ten Days."
Secondary sources:
Giorgio Agamben. Quel che resta di Auschwitz: l'archivio e il testimone. Torino: Bollati Boringhieri, 1998; Remnants of Auschwitz: the witness and the archive. New York: Zone Books, 1999. These books are on reserve.
-Massimo Lollini, "Poetry and Testimony in Primo Levi." Approaches to Teaching the Writings of Primo Levi. Eds. Nicholas Patruno and Roberta Ricci. NY: MLA, 2014. 36-44.
Suggested Readings:
LaCapra, Dominick. Representing the Holocaust: History, Theory, Trauma. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1994.
Requested Readings
a) Primo Levi. The Drowned and the Saved. New York: Summit Books, 1989.
"The Memory of the Offense"; "The Gray Zone"; "Shame"; "Communicating"
b) Primo Levi. The Drowned and the Saved. New York: Summit Books, 1989.
"Useless Violence"; The Intellectual in Aschwitz"; "Stereotypes"; "Letters From Germans"
Secondary sources:
Giorgio Agamben. Quel che resta di Auschwitz: l'archivio e il testimone. Torino: Bollati Boringhieri, 1998; Remnants of Auschwitz: the witness and the archive. New York: Zone Books, 1999. These books are on reserve
Requested Readings:
Charlotte Delbo, "None of us will return," in Auschwitz and after, translated by Rosette C. Lamont , with introduction by Lawrence A. Langer, New Haven: Yale University Press, c1995: 1-114.
Secondary sources:
Nicole Thatcher, "La Mémoire de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale en France et la voix contestataire de Charlotte Delbo." French Forum 26.2 (2001) 91-110.
Myrna Goldenberg, "From a World Beyond": Women in the Holocaust, in Feminist Studies, 22, 3 (Fall 1996): 667-687.
These essays are available in the Blackboard.
PART III: TESTIMONY, HISTORY AND FICTION
6. May 04
Midterm
Requested Readings:
a) Albert Camus. The Plague. New York: Vintage International, 1991.
This book is available at the bookstore and at the library.
* PAPER STATEMET DUE
Secondary sources:
Colin Davis, "Violence and ethics in Camus;" Margaret E. Gray, "Layers of meaning in La Peste," in The Cambridge Companion to Camus. Edwards J. Hughes Ed. Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2007, pp.106-118; 165-178. This book is on reserve for our course at the library. No digital copy are available in the Blackboard.
John Krapp, "Time and Ethics in Albert Camus The Plague" in University of Toronto Quarterly, 68 (Spring 1999): 655-676.
Suggested Reading:
Jacques Derrida, "Demeure: Fiction and Testimony" in Maurice Blanchot / Jacques Derrida. The Instant of My Death /Demeure: Fiction and Testimony. Transl. Elizabeth Rottenberg. 2000, pp.13-103. This book is on reserve.
Requested Readings:
*María Zambrano. Delirium and Destiny. New York: State Univ of New York, 1998.The Following Chapters:"Adsum"(pp.4-18);"Remembering the Future" (19-39); "Return to the Land" (61-76); "Return to the City" (85-115"; "Inspiration" (pp. 138-147); "Toward the New World" (167-169). *Students writing the paper on María Zambrano are supposed to read the entire book.
Secondary sources:
-Carol Maier. "The Context and Achievement of Delirium and Destiny,"in María Zambrano. Delirium and Destiny, pp. 215-235.
-Carol Maier. "From Delirio y Destino to Delirium and Destiny," in María Zambrano. Delirium and Destiny, pp. 237-248.
Requested Readings:
Consolo , Vincenzo, The smile of the unknown mariner. Transl. J.Farley. Manchester : Carcanet Press, 1994. Chapters I, V, VII, VI, VIII and IX.
-J.Farley, Translator Afterword, ibi, 121-131.
Secondary sources:
-Norma Bouchard, "Consolo, Lévinas, and the Ethics of Postmodernist Storytelling" in Annali d'Italianistica, 19 (2001): 119-136. -
-Massimo Lollini, "Intrecci mediterranei. La testimonianza di Vincenzo Consolo moderno Odisseo" in Italica, 81, No. 1 (Spring 2005): 24-43
- Presentations
*** The complete version of the final paper is due no later than June 10. Hard copy and electronicsubmission as well.
-Participation in the working groups and in the seminar (30%)
The students in groups will meet once per week outside the class and will prepare their comments to the readings of the day..The comments should focus on the required primary sources. Secondary sources are mandatory only for graduate students. Suggested readings are further suggestions for those students interested in exploring more in depth the theoretical questions concerning literature and testimony. For each session one group will be asked to present to the seminar a short paper (one/two pages). More than one abscence will affect negatively the grade.
-Midterm 20 % - May 4
-Paper Statement 5% - Due on May 11.
A written statement of the final paper: two pages for the undergraduate and four pages for graduate students. The first paragraph should introduce the topic of your paper and the reasons it interests you; the second paragraph should explain your methodology. The bibliography should be annotated to show how these references pertain to your essay and how you are going to use them. The Statement is due on May 11 by midnight.
- Presentation/s 15%
1. Presentation of the draft of the final paper in the last seminar; 2. Graduate students students will do a second presentation to be decided in consultation with the instructor.
-Final paper (30%)
The paper will be developed in stages. In the first weeks of the course the students will explore possibilities for a paper topic in consultation with the Professor. A brief written statement of the topic or topical area for the research paper is due for the eighth week. This statement should be 2-4 pages long and should indicate, as nearly as possible, the direction the student plans to take with the research paper and the primary and secondary sources selected.
A draft of the final paper will be required for the meeting before the last class in order to have it ready for the final discussion.The complete version of the final paper should 10-12 pages long for undergraduate and 12-15 pages for graduate; it is due on June 10, and should be submitted electronically.
GRADING POLICY FOR THE ESSAY
Scores:
Excellent Essay: A- (90-93) A (94-97) A+ (98-100).
Good Essay: B- (80-83) B (84-87) B+ (88-89).
Satisfactory Essay: C- (70-73) C (74-77) C+ (78-79)
Criteria for each category:
-The thesis is clear and developed logically and coherently, using vivid and concrete detail and appropriate evidence to back up the argument (20%);
-This essay makes a fluid, reasoned, well-supported argument (10%);
-It includes pertinent quotations from multiple sources (10%)
-Each paragraph is coherent and begins with a topic sentence that presents a point of your argument and relates to your thesis (10%);
-It is well-organized: it includes an introduction, a body and a conclusion, and features smooth transitions (10%)
-Evidences varied sentence structure, fresh diction, strong voice, appropriate tone, and something memorable and original (5);
-This writing interests its audience in what you have to say. It invites reading (10%);
-There are only insignificant grammatical and mechanical errors, if any (5%)
Unsatisfactory Essay (D-,D, D+). The writing detracts from the essay’s thesis and may make reading difficult. The essay will have a thesis that is insufficiently supported with specific detail. The thesis itself may not be suitable to the audience or the scope of the assignment, or the thesis and argument of the essay may not be in agreement. Organization may be sketchy or inadequate. There are such errors in grammar, mechanics, logic, sentence structure, or organization that the controlling idea of the essay is obscured rather than clarified, or the ideas themselves lack careful thought. The essay may not be the assigned length.
Unacceptable Essay (F). This essay has no discernible thesis and thus no structure stemming from it. Serious grammatical and mechanical errors abound. There is no attempt to identify or reach an audience with this writing. Unacceptable writing also includes writing that is plagiarized in part or as a whole.