Comparative Literature 425 - Greek Tragedy/Stage & Screen

Spring
2025
01AA

F 12:20PM 2:15PM

UMass Amherst
52196
Integ. Learning Center S413
52621,52674
This course explores classical Greek Tragedy and modern cinema's relationship with Greek tragedy. We will study ten plays in translation to examine the structure and aesthetics of tragedy and its historical, social, cultural, religious, and political function in fifth-century BCE Athens. The reading of each tragedy will be paired with the screening of at least one film. This course will proceed, not by privileging each classical tragedy as a source text and each film as the target text, but rather by viewing them as two autonomous texts that bear a relationship. It is this intermedial relationship that we will primarily investigate and explore. In this process, we will consider various theories and practices of adaptation and reception, deepen our understanding of the expressive nature of cinema, especially its changed nature in the aftermath of World War II, and gain greater competence in the formal analysis of film.
Multiple required components--lab and/or discussion section. To register, submit requests for all components simultaneously.
Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only.