In this seminar, we will read famous novels (by Dostoevsky, Proust, Modiano, Michel Houellebecq, Elena Ferrante), under the assumption that these works can teach us about the passions driving men and women in democratic, or modern, times. We will draw inspiration from the renowned critic René Girard, who believes that mimetic desire is the primary psychological force in modern times, and that novels are the medium where mimetic desire most clearly reveals itself.
This seminar is meant to provide students interested in political science with one of the best existing tools to understand their fellow humans: literature.
Benjamin OLIVENNES
Séminaire
English
Spring 2023-2024
Assignments and grading:
Response paper, one or two pages, every class (the response paper presents one question that the student want to address regarding the reading of the week)
Presentation, around fifteen minutes, one in the semester
Final paper, based on the presentation or concerning another novel in the supplementary list
Dostoevsky, Notes from the Underground (Carnets du sous-sol), 1864