For This Week: Marx, Class and Culture

Readings for this Week:

* The Victorian Governess in Fact and Fiction, pp. 158-183

* Bruce Robbins, "They don't much count, do they?": The Unfinished History of The Turn of the Screw, pp. 376-389

Answer ONE of the following...

1. Anna Jameson wrote in 1846 that the position of governess "places a woman of education and of superior faculties in an ambiguous and inferior position, with none of the privileges of a recognized possession, or places a vulgar, half-educated woman in a situation of high responsibility, requiring superior enowments" (163).  Does this knowledge make us more or less sympathetic (or more or less suspicious) of the governess/narrator?  And knowing this, what do you feel might have been James' intentions in creating her story? 

2. Many Marxist critics, such as Lucien Goldmann "rejected the idea of individual human genius, choosing to see works, instead, as the "collective" products of "trans-individual" mental structures" (367).  In other words, focusing on an all-knowing, elite author struck them as a bourgeoise construction that denied "the people" their role in creating history and literary thought.  How might we use the readings in "The Victorian Governess in Fact and Fiction" to perform a Marxist reading of The Turn of the Screw?  What ideas/passages might it highlight? 

3. In Bruce Robbins' essay, he focuses on Douglass' comment that "she was a most respectable person--till her death, the great awkwardness of which had, precisely, left no alternative but the school for little Miles" (379--pp.27-28 in our book).  He reads this passage through a Marxist lens, finding it evidence that "Miss Jessel never was real.  She was already a sort of ghost" (379).  How, according to Robbins, do class issues make all servants 'ghosts' in the house of an aristocrat?  How are these sentiments echoed by the governess and/or other characters in the novel, according to Robbins? 

4. Robbins, quoting Fredric Jameson's famous book, The Political Unconsciousness, remarks that a romance is a "symbolic answer to the perplexing question of how my enemy can be thought of as being evil...when what is responsible for his being so characterized is simply the identity of his own conduct with mine, the which...he reflects as in a mirror image" (387).  Robbins uses this to suggest that the governess creates 'doubles' of herself to exorcise the great 'evil' of her existence.  In this light, how does Robbins reinterpret Freud's "the Uncanny" in terms more of class than psychoanalysis? 

Schedule Change for Next Week

The schedule for next week will change somewhat.  Disregard the syllabus for next week and do the following readings (questions will be forthcoming):

Monday: The Victorian Governess in Fact and Fiction (pp.158-183)
Wednesday: No Reading/Introduction to Marxism
Friday: Bruce Robbins, "They Don't Count Much, Do They?: The Unfinished History of The Turn of the Screw" (pp.376-389)

Reading for Wednesday: James' Revisions, pp.121-154

For Wednesday, I want you to read the section called "James' Revisions to The Turn of the Screw on pages 121-154.  Granted, much of this consists of word by word changes, or mere sentence changes.  Skim over most of it and note any interesting alterations.  However, I want you to specifically focus on pages 146-154, since this is a more detailed discussion of key changes that affect the meaning/interpretation of the work.  This is a great 'poetics' approach to reading the novel, and one that might inspire you for your Short Paper #2 (assignment below). 

For Next Friday: Short Paper #2

Short Paper #2: Poetics & Hermeneutics

“Meaning is an inescapable notion because it is not something simple or simply determined.  It is simultaneously an experience of a subject and a property of a text.  It is both what we try to understand and what in the text we try to understand.” (Culler, Chapter 4 “Language, Meaning, and Interpretation”)

For this short paper (2-3 pages), I want you to write about a short passage from either one of Poe's stories or The Turn of the Screw using the perspective of "poetics" or "hermeneutics."  The passage could be as short as a paragraph or as long as a page, but no longer.  You will perform a close reading of the passage, carefully examining the language and the ideas in the passage to support your theoretical reading/ideas about the story.  Be sure to quote significant passages and explicate them--meaning translate what you think they mean to the reader. 

If you choose "poetics," you should focus on some aspect that is known about the story--something that can be traced back to the text.  For example, biographical details, historical/cultural information, conventions of the Gothic story (narration, etc.), and the expectations of the author's audience are all 'poetic' possibilities.  However, don't do all of them--choose one poetic perspective and examine this passage through this theoretical lens.  Pick a passage that you feel reveals something significant if examined in this way, and examine the language closely to show us the 'clues' and hints sprinkled throughout.  Note that both of our editions offer poetic background for the stories--the Oxford edition of Poe primarily in the notes in the back of the book, and the Bedford edition of James in the Introduction and in the extra materials in the back. 

If you choose "hermeneutics," you should focus on something that is not known and exists outside the text.  For example, Reader Response theory believes that the reader creates meaning in a text, so what might specifically stand out for a 21st century reader?  What 'clues' do we see because of our unique position in the world--a world that comes over a hundred years after both of these stories were written?  OR, you could focus on other theoretical notions that aren't explicit in the text itself, such as issues of psychology (the Uncanny!), gender, sexuality, class, and so forth.  In general, consider how a reader today would encounter this relic of a previous age and civilization.  Remember: a book written in the 17th century about slavery would probably not be sympathetic to the plight of slaves; yet as 21st century readers, that's our overriding sympathy, to the point that we might not be able to stomach the book itself. 

NOTE: This Short Paper will form part of your Critical Paper #1; you should be able to use this almost literally in the body of your longer paper.  So consider ideas that might extend to other parts of the story or to other stories by either author. 

For This Week: James' The Turn of the Screw

Readings for This Week: 
* Culler, Chapter 4 "Language, Meaning and Interpretation" (Monday)
* James, The Turn of the Screw (Wednesday & Friday)

Answer ONE of the following...

1. In Chapter 4, Culler writes that “language is thus both the concrete manifestation of ideology...and the site of its questioning or undoing” (60). Focusing on a specific passage in the story, explain how James uses language to create an “ideology”--in other words, a way of interpreting the plot or 'what is happening' in the story. How much of this passage is how James (or the narrator) makes us experience what is happening...and how much is what is actually happening? Do you feel the passage is consciously using language to create tension between what the narrator claims is happening (the plot) and the events/occurrences themselves?

2. Looking at the story from the perspective of poetics, consider what assumptions James makes about the audience reading his story. What might be the “horizon of expectations” (Culler, p.63)? What elements of the story might be less frightening or disturbing to us, but were obviously meant to be disturbing and frightening? Or, you might also consider what Gothic elements have aged well, and why we might still be his 'ideal audience'.

3. Looking at the story from the perspective of hermeneutics, how might we use Poe's stories and/or Freud's “uncanny” as a “theory” to read aspects of The Turn of the Screw? What relationships between the Gothic elements of Poe (frame narration, the double, monomania, confessions) can be established in James' story? Why might reading James after Poe be more useful than reading James alone, without this crucial literary/historical context?

4. Culler warns us of the “intentional fallacy” in Chapter 4, since the author's intentions can never be the “oracle” of all truth and interpretation. Nevertheless, Peter G. Beidler offers valuable biographical context (hermeneutics!) on James' life just prior to the composition of The Turn of the Screw. During this time, his sister had recently died, as had a devoted female companion; to add insult to injury, his attempts to become a successful playwright ended in failure and humiliation, forcing him to return to writing novels—of which The Turn of the Screw was the first. How might these personal events be “read” in some aspect of the novel? Be specific and cite a specific idea or passage to illustrate your idea.

French Film Festival--Extra Credit!

Note: the questions & readings for this week are in the post below this one...

Extra Credit Assignment for ECU's French Film Festival

Step One: Watch one of the French films at the Festival. The link to the festival can be found here: http://ecuenglishtalk.blogspot.com/2012/01/ecus-2nd-annual-french-festival-starts.html

Step Two: Answer the following questions in a short paragraph each. Be sure you've actually watched the film; since this is extra credit, I won't give you anything 'extra' if it sounds like you're giving me vague plot summaries from any number of movies.

Step Three: Turn in your response no later than a week after the festival ends. I will return the paper to you to let you know whether or not you got credit.

THE QUESTIONS (answer all 3 for 3 extra credit points; 2 for 2; 1 for 1. Since your grade is out of 100, if you successfully complete all 3, I will add 3 points to your final grade...so if you get a 88, that's a 91).

1. Since this is a 'French' film, what do you think makes it French? That is, how might it be different from an American film of the same type—romantic comedy, drama, thriller, etc.? Focus on some details of the story, acting, writing, music, or cinematography that made it seem recognizably 'foreign' or 'French' to you and explain why.

2. What parts of the film did you either not understand (besides the actual language) or find culturally confusing? Discuss a specific part and consider whether it was due to the script, the acting, or the culture?

3. If you were making an American remake of this film, who would you cast as the lead actors and why? Explain how these actors might do well in these roles, and what opportunities these roles might give them (also, if they're similar to other roles these actors have done).

For Friday: Poe and Freud

For this week, we will be reading the following works:

* Monday, Poe, "William Wilson"
* Wednesday, Freud, from "The Uncanny" (handout in my box, if you missed class)
* Friday, Poe, "Murders in the Rue Morgue" (I deleted "The Fall of the House of Usher" which we were planning to read this day)

Answer ONE of the following for Friday's class...

1. In "The Uncanny," Freud introduces the phrase, "the omnipotence of thoughts," which he explains as the ancient, primal ceremonies and ideas of mankind which filter down through the ages despite the civilizing factors of society, literature, and religion.  He writes, "the animistic phase...did not pass without leaving behind in us residual traces that can still make themselves felt, and that everything we now find 'uncanny' meets the criterion that is linked with these remants of animistic mental activity and prompts them to express themselves" (147).  Where in Poe's stories for this week do we see the "omnipotence of thoughts" at work, and how might it offer a theory for reading or interpreting the work? 

2. While "William Wilson" intends to make an incredible series of coincidences seem quite real, "Murders in the Rue Morgue" takes an uncanny murder and shows it to be quite mundane (or at the very least, explainable).  Which story do you feel embodies the true 'perspective' of Poe--the skeptic detective or the uncanny believer?  Would he have us see the 'truth' behind the supernatural or debunk it entirely?  It is important to note that both stories have some autobiographical references, "William Wilson" perhaps most of all. 

3. How might the character of Monseiur C. Auguste Dupin be a 'theoretical' lens himself for reading fiction?  Why might his way of reading the murders committed in the Rue Morgue be similar to Culler's ideas about reading theory and literature in Chapters 1 and 2?  Try to use specific ideas from either the story or Culler's text. 

4. Based on your reading of "The Uncanny," do you feel Poe would agree with Freud's ideas--particularly in regard to the intereptation of his work?  Though Poe does seem to anticipate many of these ideas in his stories, is it anacrhonistic to say that they share the same basic theory?  Does Poe actually develop his ideas of 'the uncanny' in different ways--and to different ends?  Use examples from either text to support your answer.