Middlebury

HARC 0351

Hysterical Objects

Hysterical Documents: Fiction, History, and the Art Object
In 1827, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe mused: “But what else is a novel but an unheard-of event?” Goethe’s provocative staging of the unknown through narrative interlaces the plausible and the historical in a manner equally appropriate to much historical writing and broad swaths of the visual arts. In this course we will consider the different roles interpretation and imagination—fact, fiction, and the porous space between—play in our engagement with works of art.
We will read recent fiction, history, poetry and criticism as well as writing that purposefully sidesteps these categories not only to engage the limits of the archive and its objects but also to explore the critical and aesthetic possibilities of writing beyond the binary of fiction and nonfiction. Seminar; no prerequisites, though some exposure to art history would be useful.
Subject:
History of Art & Architecture
Department:
History of Art & Architecture
Division:
Humanities
Requirements Fulfilled:
ART LIT non-standard grade WTR
Equivalent Courses:
CMLT 0351

Sections

Spring 2024

HARC0351A-S24 Seminar (Vazquez)

Spring 2022

HARC0351A-S22 Seminar (Vazquez)

Winter 2019

HARC0351A-W19 Seminar (Vazquez)