82-184 Freshman Seminar: The Birth and Death of Tragedy

Units: 9.0 Department: Modern Languages Notes: THIS H&SS FRESHMAN SEMINAR IS OPEN TO 2005 H&SS AND SHS FRESHMEN ONLY. Related URLs: http://hss.cmu.edu/HTML/departments/mode This is a freshman seminar, taught in English, and it addresses one of the most important questions in the development of Western culture: what is tragedy, how did it evolve, and what does it mean today? Starting with Aischeles' Oresteia and Aristotle's Poetics, the seminar explores the nature of tragedy in ancient Greece as a theatrical experience, a literary form, and an expression of Greek culture. Friedrich Nietzsche's essay The Birth of Tragedy offers an interpretation of the meaning of tragedy in its original context and a link to the nature of tragedy in the modern world. Richard Wagner's music drama Tristan und Isolde and his theoretical essays, including "Art and Revolution" and "The Art-Work of the Future," further illustrate and develop the theme, showing how a dominant representative of nineteenth century culture sought to reevaluate and reclaim the tragic form, linking it with an extensive critique of modern culture. Thomas Mann's Death in Venice provides an early twentieth century variation on the theme of tragedy, and Sigmund Freud's Civilization and its Discontents, like Nietzsche's essay, provides a framework for placing tragedy in its cultural context. Finally, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman provides a modern American version of the problem of tragedy. Students in this seminar are asked to write short papers every two to three weeks, and the in-class focus is on intensive discussion and analysis of the texts. Prerequisite: None.

Popularity index Rank for this semester: #440 Rank in this department: #24   Students also scheduled 79-104 Introduction to World History 21-241 Matrix Algebra 85-102 Introduction to Psychology 76-101 Interpretation and Argument 15-100 Introductory/Intermediate Programmi... 03-121 Modern Biology 80-130 Introduction to Ethics 33-112 Physics II for Science Students 21-112 Calculus II 57-607 Vocal Methods

Spring 2005 times

Sec	Time	Day	Instructor	Location
A	3:00 - 4:20 pm	T	Brockmann	OSC 206
		R	Brockmann	OSC 206