ENGL 368
Ireland in Film Spring 2014
Division I
This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

In 1909, James Joyce was briefly the manager of one of Dublin’s first cinemas. The medium of film has long attracted Irish writers: as a means to explore and represent the country’s political and cultural history, to interrogate the very notion of “Irishness”, and to promote their work to a wider audience. In turn, Ireland has long provided a rich subject for Hollywood fantasy, often being portrayed by non-Irish directors as either a mythic space for emerald-green romanticism, or, more darkly, as a place of political terror and enduring ideological rivalries. In this course we will view and discuss major films from the canon of Irish cinema, with the main aim of assessing the achievement of indigenous filmmakers and the newly ascendant film movement in Ireland. We will consider the impact of commercial considerations on Irish cinema, and the powerful influence of British and American films (and especially those offering competing representations of Ireland) on Irish filmmakers. We will also read the literary texts on which some films were based, so as to consider the strengths and limitations of the medium as a resource for writers who initially worked only in print. This course will introduce participants to the technical vocabulary of film art, as well as to major themes in modern Irish history and culture. Films to be viewed may include: Man of Aran, The Informer, The Quiet Man, Eat the Peach, In the Name of the Father, Butcher Boy, Intermission,The Playboys, Into the West, The Field, The Crying Game, December Bride,The Commitments, Michael Collins, Ondine and In Bruges and we will also assess one or more short independent films such as Budawanny and Adam and Paul. Special attention will be given to the work of Neil Jordan, Jim Sheridan and Terry George.
The Class: Format: seminar
Limit: 20
Expected: 20
Class#: 3777
Grading: OPG
Requirements/Evaluation: two 7-page papers, regular reading responses, and active participation in class discussions
Extra Info: may not be taken on a pass/fail basis
Prerequisites: a 100-level ENGL course, or a score of 5 on the AP English Literature exam, or a score of 6 or 7 on the Higher Level IB English exam; not open to first-year students
Enrollment Preferences: none
Distributions: Division I
Attributes: ENGL post-1900 Courses

Class Grid

Course Catalog Archive Search

TERM/YEAR
TEACHING MODE
SUBJECT
DIVISION



DISTRIBUTION



ENROLLMENT LIMIT
COURSE TYPE
Start Time
End Time
Day(s)