GERST 1109

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  • Schedule of Classes - October 16, 2017 11:09AM EDT
  • Course Catalog - June 14, 2017 7:15PM EDT

GERST 1109
FWS: From Fairy Tales to the Uncanny: Exploring the Romantic Consciousness

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2016-2017.

How did bawdy tales of peasants using magic to climb the social ladder get transformed into moral lessons for children?  The answer lies in Romanticism and its appropriation of the imagination as a force for social transformation.  As Romantics edited older tales for juvenile consumption they wrote new ones for adults. This new fiction created the matrix for modern pop genres like fantasy, science-fiction, murder mysteries, and gothic horror.  To understand this paradigm shift in modern culture, we will read, discuss, and write about a variety of texts the Romantics collected, composed, or inspired, including poetry and film, in addition to classic fairy tales and academic scholarship on the topic.

When Offered Fall, spring.

Satisfies Requirement First-Year Writing Seminar.

Comments No knowledge of German is expected.

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Syllabi: none

  •   FWS Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 17642 GERST 1109   SEM 101

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  • For more information about First-Year Writing Seminars, see the Knight Institute website at http://www.arts.cornell.edu/knight_institute.