Continuing Education
University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto
Spring 2007, Tu 1-3 pm
Instructor: Svitlana Kobets, PhD, LMS
Course Description
Madness and Civilization: Folly
and Lunacy in World Literature and Film
Some of the most celebrated works of
literature and art offer intriguing and captivating musings on the topic of
madness and folly. Shakespeare and Dostoevsky, Euripides and Kesey offer
insights into the abyss of madness and ecstasy of folly, raising time and again
burning questions pertaining to our civilization, ethics, and selfhood. “Why
are some people rejected by society and labeled “mad”? What is wrong with them?
What is madness?” In this course we will contemplate these questions as we
undertake a comparative study of socio-religious
conceptualizations of madness and folly in several cultural traditions. Our objective will be twofold: to trace the
history of conceptualizations of madness, deviation and folly in select ancient
and modern cultures and at the same time to analyze several key works of world
literature and film devoted to the subject of madness and folly.
READINGS and FILMS
Old Testament: Kings I, II, Isaiah,
Ezekiel
Euripides “Bacchae”
New Testament: Paul’s First Epistle to
the Corinthians, selections from the Gospels
Lives of select saints (St. Serapion,
St. Simeon the Fool)
Franco Zeffirelli, “Brother Sun Sister
Moon” (film)
Shakespeare, “King Lear”
Michael Foucault, “Birth of the
Asylum”
Dostoevsky, “The Idiot”
Chekhov’s “Ward #6”
Ken Kesey, “One Flew over the
Cuckoo’s Nest”
Milos Forman, “One Flew over the
Cuckoo’s Nest”
Mikhalkov-Konchalovskii, “House of
Fools” (film)
Goals: Developing close reading skills in a variety of genres from ancient,
medieval, and modern literary & cinematic traditions
Syllabus
1. Introductory lecture: Madness in the
Old Testament
overview of the Old Testament prophetic
tradition;
notions of wisdom and Folly in Old
Testament tradition
Texts: Old Testament: Kings I, II,
Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel
2. New Testament: St. Paul’s The First
Epistle to the Corinthians, selections from the Gospels
3. Hellenistic Culture:
Socrates—the archetypal wise fool
Madness in Ancient Greece
Discussion of Euripides’ “Bacchae”
4. Lives of select saints
Egyptian Desert tradition: Palladius’
Life of Serapion,
St. Simeon the Fool of Emesa by
Leontius
Franco Zeffirelli, “Brother Sun Sister
Moon” (film)
5. Shakespeare, “King Lear”
6. Michael Foucault, “Birth of the
Asylum”
7. Dostoevsky, “The Idiot”
8. Dostoevsky, “The Idiot”
9. Dostoevsky, “The Idiot”
10. Chekhov’s “Ward #6”
11. Ken Kesey, “One Flew over the
Cuckoo’s Nest” (film)
12. Mikhalkov-Konchalovskii, “House
of Fools” (film)
