ENGLISH 4973 001 Senior Seminar: Camus & Nabokov

ENGLISH 4973 001 Senior Seminar: Camus & Nabokov Fall, 2007 Monday 5:30-8:15 MB 0.226 Professor: Steven G. Kellman Office 2.454 MB tel. 458-5216 Office hrs. M 1-2, Th 2-5:30 & appt. [email protected]

SYLLABUS

I happen to find second-rate and ephemeral the works of a number of puffed-up writers--such as Camus, Lorca, Kazantzakis, D. H. Lawrence, Thomas Mann, Thomas Wolfe, and literally hundreds of other "great" second-raters....Brecht, Faulkner, Camus, many others, mean absolutely nothing to me, and I must fight a suspicion of conspiracy against my brain when I see blandly accepted as "great literature" by critics and fellow authors Lady Chatterley's copulations or the pretentious nonsense of Mr. Pound, that total fake. --Vladimir Nabokov

.... --Albert Camus on Nabokov

Albert Camus and Vladimir Nabokov are both major figures in twentieth-century literature, but it is hard to imagine two authors more unalike. Camus was born into dire poverty in colonial Algeria, while Nabokov was reared by wealthy aristocrats in Tsarist Russia. Both men spent most of their lives in exile from their native lands, but Camus regarded writing as an extension of the struggle for social and political justice, while Nabokov scorned the exploitation of art for any purpose other than exquisite quickening of the imagination. Camus insisted on absolute lucidity and economy of expression, whereas Nabokov's intricate sentences are playful and elusive. Though Nabokov dismissed the Nobel-laureate Camus as "second- rate" and "ephemeral," both authors remain central to the modern canon. It is impossible to understand literature in the middle of the twentieth century without coming to erms with the very different contributions that Camus and Nabokov each made.

This Senior Seminar is an experiment in comparative literature. By immersing ourselves in the novels, short 2 stories, plays, and essays of two diametrically opposed figures, we can attempt to survey the gamut of twentieth-century styles and themes. What have been the possibilities of literary expression during the era of Auschwitz, the Gulag, and Elvis? Juxtaposing the works of Camus and Nabokov, we may discover conspicious contrasts but also subtle affinities. Above all, we are encountering some of the most brilliant and powerful texts published in the past century.

August 27 Introduction

September 3 The Stranger

September 10 The Plague

September 17 The Fall

September 24 The Fall; Exile and the Kingdom

October 1 Exile and the Kingdom

October 8 Midterm Exam

October 15 Lolita

October 22 Pnin

October 29 Pale Fire

November 5 Pale Fire

November 12 Nabokov stories 3 November 19 Nabokov stories

November 26 Nabokov stories Term paper due

December 3-4 Student Study Days

December 10 FINAL EXAM 5:00-7:30 p.m.

Required Texts:

Albert Camus. The Stranger. Vintage International. 0679720200. Albert Camus. The Plague. Vintage International. 0679720219. Albert Camus. The Fall. Vintage International. 0679720227. Albert Camus. Exile and the Kingdom. Vintage. 394702816. Vladimir Nabokov. The Annotated Lolita Revised. Vintage. 0679727299. Vladimir Nabokov. Pnin. Vintage International. 0679723412. Vladimir Nabokov. Pale Fire. Vintage International. 0679723420. Vladimir Nabokov. The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov. Vintage. 0679729976.

ENG 4973 is a senior seminar in literature offered on the premise that those who sign up for it are able and eager to undertake sophisticated study of works by two major twentieth- century authors. Students are expected to have read their assignments carefully by the date specified and to come to class prepared for active engagement in analysis of the texts. In contrast to a lecture course, a seminar presupposes that each of its members is primus inter pares (first among equals) and willing to take responsibility for collective enlightenment. In addition to reading the texts assigned to everyone in the class, 4 members of the seminar will be pursuing individual, original research projects on Camus, Nabokov, and their literary contexts. The professor is pleased to share his insights into the works being studied, but he finds no pleasure--and no point--in summarizing their contents to students who have not done the reading. He is glad to teach and gladder to learn, from students who come to class equipped for the day's topic and for consistent effulgence. Weekly class attendance for the entirety of each session is expected and required, and repeated unexcused absence will result in a lowered grade.

In addition to assigned readings, class attendance, an occasional quiz, and active, informed, and scintillating contributions to class discussions, students will be responsible throughout the semester for a midterm, an oral presentation, a term paper, and a final exam. The final grade will be a function of: midterm (25%) + term paper (30%) + class work, including quizzes, discussions, and oral report (15%) + final exam (30%) = 100%.

During his office hours or by appointment, Professor Kellman is available for questions, comments, or further discussion. He also welcomes telephonic and electronic communications. To facilitate further thoughts about our subject, to provide a practical means for conveying occasional information about course procedures, and to receive supplemental information about Camus and Nabokov, the course maintains a WebCT site that each member of the class should consult at least once a week.

In cooperation with the Office of Disability Services, the class accommodates student disabilities.

UTSA issues the following official caveat: "The University expects every student to maintain a high standard of individual integrity for work done. Scholastic dishonesty is a serious offense that includes, but is not limited to, cheating on a test or other work, plagiarism (the appropriation of another's work and the incorporation of that work in one's own work), and collusion (the unauthorized collaboration with another person in preparing work offered for credit)."