Comedy Class—Kincaid—Fall 2008—LBST-542, sect. 38665
Wed 6-9; THH 203
My Office: THH 410
Office Hours: M-W-F 9-10, 1-2 and by appointment
Phone—213-740-3753
GENERAL DESCRIPTION:
This class will investigate the range and forms of “comedy,” regarded as a literary form and tradition, as a mode of cultural analysis, as a weapon for political change, and as a philosophic system. Comedy need not be seen simply as a form of “relief,” a release from the “seriousness” or real life but as a way of forming what counts as real life. We will see how comedy can unleash unexpected energies and also provide a context in which such energies sprout, seem inevitable.
We will begin by wallowing a bit in the ideas and forms of tragedy, traditionally regarded as part of a system in which comedy operates as the opposite pole. After that, we will range through a range of comic possibilities, with emphasis on comedy’s “seriousness” and on its connections to such vexed categories as nationhood, gender, sexuality, and race. Throughout, we will try to keep the discussion edgy, risky, and—not least—fun.
READING SCHEDULE:
Weekly Readings and Topics:
Aug. 27: Introduction—jokes, laughter, comic form, history, theory (handouts)
Sept. 3: Traditional Tragedy—Sophocles, Oedipus the King; Shakespeare, Hamlet
Sept. 10: Modern Tragedy—Norman Maclean, Young Men and Fire
Sept. 17: Comedy and theatre—Aristophanes, Lysistrata; Shakespeare, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Sept. 24: Comedy and Love--Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Oct. 1: Subversive Comedy--Selections from Barecca (American Humor)—to be assigned
Oct. 8: Comedy and the Forbidden--Poetry handouts (Xeroxes)—selections from Barecca (American Humor)—to be assigned
Oct. 15: Comedy and Satire—Kingsley Amis, Lucky Jim
Oct. 22: Comedy and Pain--David Sedaris, Holidays on Ice
Oct. 29: Comedy and Gender--Kathy and Mo video (shown in class)—selections from Barecca (American Humor)—to be assigned
Nov. 5: Comedy and Race-- Richard Pryor and Others (shown in class)
Nov. 12: Comedy Race and Family and Sex—handouts, shown in class—your contributions welcome here
Nov. 19: Comedy and Freedom---Albert Camus, The Stranger
Nov. 26: Comedy and Catastrophe—D. M. Thomas, The White Hotel
Dec. 3: Your Turn: bring in material, act out scenes, do stand-up?
FINAL PROJECTS DUE DEC 3
REPORTS:
Each student will be responsible for opening one class, providing a set-up for discussion and raising some crucial questions about the work we will be dealing with or about comedy generally. These reports (or whatever they are) will be short and provocative, no more than 10 minutes long and designed to open discussion, not necessarily to provide information.
TERM PROJECT:
Each student will prepare a term project of some sort, designed in consultation with the instructor. As this is a course on comedy and as comedy is a notoriously hurly-burly form, your project can take any of a hundred (or more) forms. Possibilities include:
--a long (10-12 page) paper on a major comic work, a comic tradition, an issue
connected with comedy (many will be brought up in class)
--two or three short papers, turned in periodically
--a journal, kept regularly, on the readings, open-ended and unrevised
--a creative project: your own comic writing or art
--a comic blog
--a performance of some sort----starring YOU
--a collaborative project
GRADES: Grades will be based on the term project, unless you wish to
Negotiate a different scheme.
TEXTS:
Amis, Kingsley. Lucky Jim. Penguin. 0140186301. Paper.
Aristophanes. Lysistrata. Hackett. 0872206033. Paper.
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Penguin. 0141439513. Paper.
Barecca, Regina, ed. The Signet Book of American Humor. NAL. 0451210581. Paper.
Camus, Albert. The Stranger. Vintage. 0679720200. Paper.
Maclean, Norman. Young Men and Fire. U of Chicago. 0226500621. Paper.
Sedaris, David. Holidays on Ice. Back Bay Books. 0316779234. Paper.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Pelican. 0140714545. Paper.
Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night’s Dream. 048627067X. Paper.
Sophocles. Oedipus the King. Dover. 0486268772. Paper.
Thomas, D. M. The White Hotel. Penguin. 0140231730. Paper.