Sylabus przedmiotu

The class is open to graduates of BA programs at English Departments at Polish universities or colleges with a BA program in English studies.

• dyskusja dydaktyczna
• film
• konsultacje
• metoda przewodniego tekstu
• objaśnienie lub wyjaśnienie
• wykład informacyjny
• z użyciem podręcznika programowanego

Reflecting upon the many works of artistic genius in the European past, in his bookOn Human Accomplishmentsocial scientist Charles Murray has suggested: “Human beings have been most magnificently productive and reached their highest cultural peaks in the times and places where humans have thought most deeply about their place in the universe and been most convinced they have one.” Among other things, this is why religion has been such an inspiration for so many of humanity’s greatest creative works. Most films are created for entertainment, but one can still find examples of those that do reflect deeply on the human condition and among these religious inspiration often enough plays a role.

This class will have a less ambitious aim than exclusively examining such films: rather there will be reflection on different levels of such inspiration or motifs in films. At the lower end of the scale are rituals which bring elements of order into our lives and their somewhat different function in film: in general they support narrative cinema creating recognizable foils and settings for conflict or its resolution. Myth is deeper, capable of ordering an entire narrative within an archetypical structure. As a nearly ubiquitous element of human societies religion can be present in film at a more superficial level of a narrative element, simply furthering the plot, or more profoundly implicit in works that reflect on our place in the universe or the human condition. In the theistic tradition narrative plays a key role in transmitting religious tradition; cinematic narratives, in turn, are often enough covertly vehicles for religious concerns even when these might not be their primary intent. At their most profound such narratives might reflect a specific tradition but still be fairly open-ended, reminding viewers we are still pilgrims toward and not dwellers of our final haven.

The class will encourage its participants to view and analyze selected films from the perspective of such and related concerns. The class will be graded on an essay based on an analysis of one of the discussed films supported by appropriate literature.

• esej

General literature and resources:

Parley Ann Boswell and Paul Loukides,Reel Rituals: Ritual Occasions from Baptisms to Funerals, 1945-1995.Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1999. (Google Books)

Leon Kass, “The Other War on Poverty,”National Affairs2012 (essay concerning American spirituality on the web)

The Routledge Companion to Religion and Film, edited by John Lynden. Routledge 2009. [library]

Encyclopedia of Religion and Film, edited by Eric Mazur. ABC-Clio 2011. [e.g. entries on myth, ritual, Terry Gilliam, Quentin Tarantino pertinent to selected films below]

Journal of Religion and Film[Web]

Susan Mackey-Kallis,The Hero and the Perennial Journey Home in American Film.University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001.

Pertaining to Films:

Lion King(1994)

Annalee Ward,Mouse Morality: The Rhetoric of Disney Animated Films.University of Texas Press, 2002. (chapter one “Lion King: Moral Educator Through Myth, Archetype, and Ritual”)*

Quiet Man(1952)

William Dowling, “John Ford's Festive Comedy: Ireland Imagined inThe Quiet Man,”Eire-Ireland23:1 (2002). [William Dowling website link]

The Searchers(1956)

James J. Clauss, “Descent into Hell: Mythic Paradigms inThe Searchers,”Journal of Popular FilmTelevision27, 3 (1999) [Ebscohost]

[additional reading] Michael Bohnke, “Myth and Law in the Films of John Ford,”Journal of Law and Society28, 1 (2001) [Ebscohost]

Big Fish(2003)

Kelly James Clark, “Story Shaped Lives inBig Fish,” inFaith, Film and Philosophy, edited by R. Douglas Geivett and James Spiegel. IVP Academic, 2007.

Pulp Fiction(1994)

Roy Anker, chapter 18 “Narrative,” inThe Routledge Companion to Religion and Film, edited by John Lynden. Routledge 2009.* [library]

Todd Davis and Kenneth Womack, “Shepherding the Weak: The Ethics of Redemption in Quentin Tarantino’sPulp Fiction,”Literature Film Quarterly26, 1 (1998) [Ebscohost]

Fisher King(1991)

Michael Herzog, “Attunement and Healing:Fisher King,” inThe Gift of Story: Narrating Hope in a Postmodern World, edited by Emily Griesinger and Mark Eaton. Baylor University Press, 2006.

[additional reading] Peter Phan, “The Wisdom of Holy Fools in Postmodernity,”Theological Studies62 (2011). [Ebscohost]

Tree of Life(2011)

Ian Marcus Corbin, “Points of Light,”The New Atlantis35 (2012) [Web, PDF]