Middlebury

HARC0351A-S22

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.
Course Reference Number (CRN):
22554
Subject Code:
HARC
Course Number:
0351
Section Identifier:
A

Course

HARC 0351

All Sections in Spring 2022

Spring 2022

HARC0351A-S22 Seminar (Vazquez)