الشتاء ٢٠٢٢، القاهرةمقرر قصير

Wisdom in Despair

Living Your Existential Crisis Through the Lens of Literary Fiction

التسجيل مغلق

تفاصيل المقرر

الدورة: الشتاء ٢٠٢٢، القاهرة
المدة: ٧ أسابيع
طريقة الحضور: حضوري
لغة التدريس: الإنجليزية

ناقشه مع الذكاء الاصطناعي

اختر مساعد الذكاء الاصطناعي الذي تفضّله.
ستُفتح علامة تبويب جديدة، وستجد النص التوجيهي جاهزًا للاستخدام.
اضغط على إرسال لتبدأ استكشاف الصفحة من خلال الحوار، على طريقة سيلاس.

عن المقرر

An existential crisis is once the most universal and individual of experiences. Where do we look and what do we seek in times of despair? Can literature offer companionship, wisdom, consolation?

We read to know we are not alone, to seek a deeper understanding of ourselves— a need which surfaces acutely in periods of crisis. In such a time, the pursuit of meaning becomes an absolute priority.

Although reading is the most solitary of exercises, it is fundamentally a move towards connection. We read in search of an understanding of our place in the universe; we read because literature offers what Harold Bloom describes “the only secular transcendence we can ever attain”.

This course looks at points of crisis in the lives of a vast range of literary characters. From Odysseus, homesick and forlorn on a lone Greek island, to Gregor Samsa’s nightmarish transformation into a horrible insect; from mythology to science fiction, from Japanese to Czech literature, our rich reading list spans genres, centuries and continents in the effort to explore the universality of human crisis and despair. Throughout, we look to literature as a guide and companion in our quest to live more soulfully as we search for acceptance, understanding and healing.

مَن يقدّم المقرر

Lena Naassana is a creative entrepreneur with a diverse background in publishing, media and development. Born in New York to a multicultural and multilingual family of mixed Czech-Syrian descent, Lena grew up in Cairo, leaving to read English literature at Oxford University. After graduating, she worked as a documentary filmmaker and photographer with local and international nonprofits and NGOs. In 2017, she moved to Prague to study film and photography, later moving to London to begin an MA in Comparative Literature at the School of Oriental and African Studies. In 2020, Lena moved back to Cairo to co-found El Batron, a music label and creative consultancy supporting young talents in the rising trap and mahragan scenes. As chief Creative Strategist of El Batron, Lena oversees all of the label’s creative output as well as the visual identities of El Batron’s roster of music artists. In parallel, continues to pursue interdisciplinary artistic projects grappling with themes of exile, alienation and nostalgia.

مسار المقرر

يُعرض ٧ جلسات

جلسات بلا تاريخ

Summary: Theoretical framework + soft intro to Homer’s Odyssey
- The work of Ahmed MorsiPrompts
- Jung’s Bollinger tower as a symbol we will carry through this course
في الجلسة
نقاشExistentialism vs. the existential crisis - definitions/discussions
نقاشWays of thinking about ‘existential crisis’: Philosophically, theologically, psychologically. Bloom/Merton/Jung
نقاشWhy did this course interest you? Be as personal as you’d like. Examples in the news and/or Egyptian pop culture. An acute crisis you can think of? (Your own, a friend). In different moments, life as a…
نقاشWhat is the role of mythology the way we think about crisis points? Can it offer comfort? Wisdom? Consolation? (tie back to Jung)
نقاشIntroducing The Odyssey. Discuss why we have chosen to start with Homer (tie to Bloom). What do we already know about the Odyssey? What was our first encounter with it? Is there an equivalent?
نقاشConclusion: Reconsidering Ahmed Morsi’s images
- The Odyssey, Homer
- Ithaka, Constantine P. Cavafypoem
في الجلسة
عرضWarmup: Extracts from films Solaris and 2001: A Space Odyssey? What are some of the themes that come to the surface here?
نقاشClose reading of The Odyssey. What do we know about Homer? Extract from The Odyssey. Discussion. What is the crisis at the heart of this myth?
نقاشThe afterlife of The Odyssey: Illustrations of The Odyssey (Blake etc.); modern and classic. What has this text inspired? Read Constantine P. Cavafy’s poem Ithaka
نقاشHow can we tie Homer back to Jung? (Bollingen tower)
- The Kreutzer Sonata, Leo Tolstoy
في الجلسة
نقاشGeneral discussion: The family ideal; the ideal of marriage. In your opinion, are these both idealized?
نقاشLocal literature/culture as starting point: Naguib Mahfouz; realism in Egyptian literature and film.
نقاشThe text: General discussion of Tolstoy’s story. Close reading of key passages from The Kreutzer Sonata: The trigger of the crisis, solitude in spite of company, depression & self-absorption. Broaden discussion: Why is the shattering of the family ideal so unsettling? How is this portrayed in this particular text? How is this comparable to our day and age? Compare to Homer.
نقاشTie back to Jung + previous readings. What is the mythology at play here? How can we view such a crisis in light of Jung’s much more ancient view of things? In light of Solaris’ cosmic perspective?
- Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka
- Solitude of the Ravens, photography series by Masahisa Fukase
في الجلسة
نقاشContext: Introducing Kafka’s time and life. Why Metamorphosis? + Link back to the Greek myth. The crisis: In the midst of a bustling life, everything suddenly stops
نقاشClose reading of text. Close look at experience of time and space. Close look at relationships: between self + self; self + family, self + society, self + world etc… Ways of thinking about crisis: abstract vs. material
نقاشGeneral discussion + connecting the dots. What is it that makes us who we are? The way we look/feel/behave? Shift in the self vs shift in the world. Or are they one and the same thing?
- Rama and the Dragon, Edwar El-Kharrat
- Interview with Ahmed Morsi
في الجلسة
نقاشContext: Elaborate on relationship between Kharrat and Morsi. Introducing Kharrat + common thread: Alexandria
نقاشClose reading: a strange reading of love presented by Mikhail. Mikhail & Kharrat’s unconventional narrative technique. Mikhail’s experience of time during love. ‘TIMES’ of our lives - Mikhail’s interplay between adolescence and middle age. Concrete vs. abstract, existential
نقاشGeneral discussion + connecting the dots. Looking forward to Kundera - the concrete as a sanctuary? The escape into the abstract? Which do you find more helpful in times of crisis? Looking back at our characters, who chose the tangible vs. abstract?
- The Joke, Milan Kundera
- Creative writing exercise: the passage of time in two contrasting situations
في الجلسة
نقاشThe burden of choice: existentialism as a framework for reading Kundera. Sartre, Camus etc.
نقاشClose reading of The Joke. The experience of time during crisis. Tragedy, satire, absurdity - what is the ultimate tone?
نقاشGeneral discussion: the many tones of crisis. Reflect on the approaches to the various crises we have read about - Gregor Samsa/Kafka; Ulysses/Homer; Ludvik/Kundera; Mikhail/Edwar; Pozdnyshev/Tolstoy.
- Men in the Sun, Ghassan Kanafani
في الجلسة
نقاشRecap discussion: Which literary characters, thus far, have you sympathized with most?
نقاشPolitical despair. Kanafani, like Kundera, takes it to the political sphere, in our corner of the world. Both novels written in the 1960s. Why is satire, as a way of handling ‘despair’, less common in the Arab world? What are some of the tones of despair that have resonated with you most, thus far?
نقاشClose reading. Extracts describing the town; extracts from the journey, the desert environment; frantic pace as build up to tragic ending. Where does Kanafani inject humor? What do we make of the ending?
نقاشGeneral discussion. Link final image of men overheated in back of closed truck to Jung’s Bollinger tower. Ongoing despair - in a situation such as the Israel/Palestine conflict. What consolation does Kanafani offer? What wisdom does literature offer in such circumstances?