EN 595: Models, Copies, Simulacra

EN 595: Models, Copies, Simulacra

Models, Copies, Simulacra: A Selective History of Representation, From Plato to Postmodernism

EN 595—Special Topics.

Offered: Winter Semester 2014, Wednesday 6 to 9:20

Many are surprised to learn that Plato, so profoundly influential on the western intellectual tradition, banned virtually all poetry from his ideal republic. Plato concluded that poetry—and by implication the other arts—are dangerously deceptive, likely to distort and degrade eternal truths, and promote irrationality and emotionalism.

This interdisciplinary graduate seminar, which can count for either writing or literature credit, considers how poets, other artists and thinkers, have responded to Plato’s negative critique of poetic mimesis, by addressing questions such as: What sorts of models should we be emulating, and why? What are appropriate ways to represent such models? And what about the simulacrum—the copy that rejects the primacy of its model?

The course will foreground literary texts that engage, in different ways, the “problem” of simulacra: the female protagonist of Eliza Haywood’s 18th century text Fantomina, or, Love in a Maze, for example, who manages to seduce the same man in four different disguises; the “monster” in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a fabricated being whose strength and intelligence outstrip that of his human model; the extraordinary textual fragment created by the protagonist of Jorge Luis Borges’ short story Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote. In addition to works of literature by other, relatively contemporary, authors (Vladimir Nabokov, William Burroughs, Angela Carter, Peter Carey) we will read from a selection of influential works of critical theory including Aristotle’s Poetics, Walter Benjamin’s The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Jean Baudrillard’s Simulations and Simulacra, Giles Deleuze’s Plato and the Simulacrum, Michel Foucault’s The Order of Things.

Texts from other creative disciplines may include films such as Bunuel’s That Obscure Object of Desire, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, Brian Forbes’ original Stepford Wives, David Cronenberg’s The Fly, the Wachowski siblings’ The Matrix and Abbas Kiarostami’s Certified Copy, as well as works by a host of visual artists such as pop artist Andy Warhol, photographers Cindy Sherman and Sherry Levine and super-realist painters Richard Estes and Chuck Close. The seminar topic also invites investigations into other areas of human activity such as science (eg. mimesis, cloning), technology (eg. digital), law (eg. copyright), popular media and culture (eg. social media, fashion, “reality” TV).

This interdisciplinary seminar is designed to bring together students from both the MA and MFA programs. Since the course can count for either literature or writing credit, students will select what kind of final project they will submit—either a critical paper, or a creative work—based on their own needs and goals. It should be a fun and rewarding seminar. If you have questions, contact Prof. Russell Prather at .