Serialization in Dickens, Buffy, Barber, and Joyce (Jan 23)
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$120.00
$60.00 - $120.00
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Serialization in Dickens, Buffy, Barber, and Joyce
This is a single-session course.
Thurs, Jan 23 - 7:30-9:30pm ET | online on Zoom
(Click here to register for Fri, Jan 24 instead)
Instructor: Sakina B. Fakhri
By delving into a variety of artistic forms (literature, classical music, and television), we will consider the ramifications of the early Victorian practice of publishing novels as serials.
How–if at all–does the potential of audience intervention affect the artistic mind? What literary techniques did the Victorians employ to hold their plots at the edges of cliffs, the ending of one chapter simultaneously ready for conclusion or renewal of the next? What stylistic aspects of Modernist fiction may be attributable to a newfound assurance that novels would be entertained as cohesive wholes, possibly “binge-read” in a single sitting? We will also consider the economic web that ensnares the serialized work–for better or worse–and how bending to these “current” considerations may (or may not!) affect the timelessness of such pieces. To what extent does an artist adjust to a readership, a television show to its fans, a musical score to its patrons? We will discuss the boldness of writing that refused to adjust–that which is styled with a patience that assumes that one will be given the chance to complete one’s story.
We will look briefly at the musical and television corollaries and then will focus our time on a rigorous literary analysis of specific passages from our chosen literary works, parsing out the places where a serialized mindset is or is not evident. Though there is a great deal of information to be conveyed–and indeed I will convey it–this is NOT a lecture seminar; the session will be delivered in a discussion-based, communal, inviting scholarly format–the intellectual product will be what emerges from the group’s collective insights, and I truly look forward to hearing people’s thoughts!
Obviously, there is no expectation that you imbibe these works in their entirety before our discussion! I will provide a pdf of suggested reading/watching/listening that should span 2-4 hours, and we will look at focused excerpts during the session itself; even if you aren’t able to do any preparation, the session should run smoothly and there will be a great deal to discuss.
You do not need any prior familiarity with the above works to enjoy this session.
This is a single-session course.
Thurs, Jan 23 - 7:30-9:30pm ET | online on Zoom
(Click here to register for Fri, Jan 24 instead)
Instructor: Sakina B. Fakhri
By delving into a variety of artistic forms (literature, classical music, and television), we will consider the ramifications of the early Victorian practice of publishing novels as serials.
How–if at all–does the potential of audience intervention affect the artistic mind? What literary techniques did the Victorians employ to hold their plots at the edges of cliffs, the ending of one chapter simultaneously ready for conclusion or renewal of the next? What stylistic aspects of Modernist fiction may be attributable to a newfound assurance that novels would be entertained as cohesive wholes, possibly “binge-read” in a single sitting? We will also consider the economic web that ensnares the serialized work–for better or worse–and how bending to these “current” considerations may (or may not!) affect the timelessness of such pieces. To what extent does an artist adjust to a readership, a television show to its fans, a musical score to its patrons? We will discuss the boldness of writing that refused to adjust–that which is styled with a patience that assumes that one will be given the chance to complete one’s story.
- Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto, Op. 14 (1939) [music]
- Excerpts from James Joyce’s Ulysses [fiction]
- Excerpts from Charles Dickens’s Bleak House and David Copperfield [fiction]
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer [television show]
We will look briefly at the musical and television corollaries and then will focus our time on a rigorous literary analysis of specific passages from our chosen literary works, parsing out the places where a serialized mindset is or is not evident. Though there is a great deal of information to be conveyed–and indeed I will convey it–this is NOT a lecture seminar; the session will be delivered in a discussion-based, communal, inviting scholarly format–the intellectual product will be what emerges from the group’s collective insights, and I truly look forward to hearing people’s thoughts!
Obviously, there is no expectation that you imbibe these works in their entirety before our discussion! I will provide a pdf of suggested reading/watching/listening that should span 2-4 hours, and we will look at focused excerpts during the session itself; even if you aren’t able to do any preparation, the session should run smoothly and there will be a great deal to discuss.
You do not need any prior familiarity with the above works to enjoy this session.