SCANDINAVIAN R5B, Section 5: Reading and Composition: The Machiavellian Narrative
MWF 10-11 Spring 2016, 103 Wheeler. Instructor: Monica Hidalgo
Units: 4
All Reading & Composition courses must be taken for a letter grade in order to fulfill this requirement for the Bachelor’s Degree. This course satisfies the second half or the “B” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement.
The purpose of this course is to familiarize students with the forms and mechanics of academic writing. As a guiding theme, we will read, analyze, and respond to short stories and novels that toy with our desire to understand characters’ true motivations – these are known as Machiavellian narratives, named after the Italian political theorist notorious for advocating trickery, subterfuge, and fear-mongering as effective methods of rule.
The power of Machiavellian narratives will be explored through following Scandinavian texts such as Victoria Benedictsson’s “From the Darkness,” St. St. Blicher’s “Tardy Awakening,” Hjalmar Söderberg’s Doctor Glas, and Pär Lagerkvist’s The Dwarf. While we may not be accustomed to thinking too much about a story’s narrator as a character, Machiavellian narratives raise the question of how much we can trust a story’s narrator. How do we know what the narrator tells us is true? Does the narrator have an interest in telling us certain things but not others about the characters in the novel? What does the narrator think of the reader listening to his or her tale? By raising these questions, students will become more adept at identifying manipulative narratorial moves, discerning and analyzing the power constellations governing fiction, and, most importantly, developing the analytic skills necessary to becoming successful academic writers.
Texts:
Lagerkvist, Pär. The Dwarf. Translated by Alexandra Dick. New York: Hill and Wang, 1958. ISBN-13: 978-0374521356
Söderberg, Hjalmar. Dr. Glas. Translated by Paul Bitten Austin. Anchor, 2002. ISBN-13: 978-0385722674
*Additional readings will be made available in a course reader or bCourses.
Prerequisites: Successful completion of the first half or “A” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement. Students may not enroll nor attend R1B/R5B courses without completing this prerequisite.