European Masterpieces
Prerequisites: UCLR 100, UCLR 100C, UCLR 100E, UCLR 100M, or equivalent; please check requirements for declared majors/minors for exceptions.
Major European literary texts will be examined in a historical and cultural context and in their transhistorical, universal aspects that make them masterpieces. Students will understand how literary masterpieces help us develop critical consciousness of our experience.
Prerequisites: UCLR 100, UCLR 100C, UCLR 100E, UCLR 100M, or equivalent; please check requirements for declared majors/minors for exceptions.
Major European literary texts will be examined in a historical and cultural context and in their transhistorical, universal aspects that make them masterpieces. Students will understand how literary masterpieces help us develop critical consciousness of our experience.
Pre-requisites: UCWR 110, C- or higher
Tier 2 Literary Knowledge
European Studies
Global Studies
What is opera? Is it large people in silly costumes yelling at the top of their lungs? Or is it the ultimate art form, offering a sublime aesthetic experience that transcends any other? This course will approach answers to these questions through examining the complex relationships--sometimes happy, sometimes hostile--between literature and music on the operatic stage, in the context of a broader effort to develop a understanding and appreciation of opera itself. To this end, we will attend several live performances at Chicago¿s Lyric Opera and other venues; these will be supplemented by video and sound recordings of works ranging from opera¿s sixteenth-century beginnings to the present day. We will simultaneously read key works of literature connected with the operas under discussion, exploring how opera depends on, reacts against, cannibalizes, and ignores its literary sources; we will also look at how literature occasionally manages to return the favor.
This is a writing intensive class. A grade of C- or better in UCWR 110 is required to enroll.
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