Degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics

Bachelor in Philosophy, Politics and Economics

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Literature and Thought

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Description: 

Taking as its starting point the major philosophical and cultural theme of the “crisis of European reason”, which emerged in the mid-nineteenth century, and the major historical and political theme of the “total crisis” that characterised the twentieth century, this course aims to introduce students to the fundamental role played by the literature of this period in expressing and conveying these themes, as well as to the significance of the ideas embraced by its authors, which turned their works into focal points for interdisciplinary reflection (literary, political and philosophical).

Type Subject
Optativa
Semester
Second
Credits
6.00
Previous Knowledge: 

No applicable. 

Objectives: 

The course aims to introduce students to the study of the relationships between literature, philosophy and politics during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, taking as its central themes the so-called “crisis of European reason”, which emerged in the mid-nineteenth century, and the “total crisis” that characterised the twentieth century. Through the reading and analysis of a range of literary works, the course seeks to explore the role of literature as a means of expressing and conveying the main philosophical, political and cultural issues of the period, as well as to identify the ideas and schools of thought that influenced their authors. The course also aims to provide students with the tools needed to interpret literary works as spaces for interdisciplinary reflection in which literary, philosophical, political, social and historical questions converge.

Contents: 

UNIT 0: Introduction to the Connection between Literature and Thought

  • 0. 1. The relationship between literary truth and philosophical truth: continuities and discontinuities.
  • 0. 2. The materialisation of philosophy in writing: transformations of philosophical praxis into literary form.
  • 0. 3. Strategies for approaching the interconnection between literature and thought.

UNIT 1: Reading and Study of Walden; or, Life in the Woods (1854) by Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) and Bartleby, the Scrivener (1853) by Herman Melville (1819–1891)

  • Topic 1: Socio-political history of the United States: from the War of 1812 to the Civil War (1861–1865)
    • 1. 1. The forging of a concealed imperialism: industrialisation, urbanisation and the road towards large-scale capitalism. The doctrine of “Manifest Destiny” (c. 1840).
    • 1. 2. Centres of resistance: Christian anarchism and “non-resistance”: Adin Ballou (1803–1890) and William Lloyd Garrison (1805–1879).
  • Topic 2: American Transcendentalism: origins, history and development
    • 2. 1. The European philosophical legacy: Kantianism and Romanticism (Continental and British).
    • 2. 2. The Eastern philosophical legacy: the Upanishads, Taoism and Buddhism.
    • 2. 3. The model to follow: the system of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882).
  • Topic 3: Thoreau’s proposal: analysis of the structure, themes and motifs of the work
    • 3. 1. A modern “noble savage”.
    • 3. 2. The natural vs. the civilised.
    • 3. 3. The emptiness of modern frenzy (solitude vs. metropolis).

UNIT 2: Reading and Study of The Flowers of Evil (1857) by Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)

  • Topic 1: Nineteenth-century Europe. Romanticism and the emergence of modernity
    • 1. 1. The advent of a new philosophical discourse: analysis of the category of the “modern” after Kant.
    • 1. 2. The incorporation of the marginal element: the rise of Marxism and the revolution in social thought.
    • 1. 3. The literary legacy and its transformation: Classicism, Decadence and Symbolism.
  • Topic 2: Exploration of evil and descent into the depths of the human condition
    • 2. 1. Baudelaire, poet of evil.
    • 2. 2. The category of the abyss.
    • 2. 3. Baudelaire’s relationship with spirituality. The relationship between love and evil.
  • Topic 3: Baudelaire’s aesthetics. Analysis of the structure and main themes of The Flowers of Evil
    • 3. 1. Baudelaire’s modernity.
    • 3. 2. Poetry and philosophy: tensions and correspondences.
    • 3. 3. The architecture of the book. Cycles.

UNIT 3: Reading and Study of The Metamorphosis (1912) by Franz Kafka (1883–1924)

  • Topic 1: The crisis of European reason: political, intellectual and cultural particularities of the German-speaking world
    • 1. 1. The construction and destruction of an empire: pre- and post-Bismarckian Germany (1850–1890).
    • 1. 2. The question of antisemitism: social or cultural conflict?
    • 1. 3. The philosophical and literary legacy: Aufklärung, “Weimar Classicism” and German Romanticism.
  • Topic 2: The breakdown of the anthropological system: social and philosophical roots of Sigmund Freud’s (1856–1939) theory of psychoanalysis
    • 2. 1. “The mind is not the soul”: the decline of classical anthropology.
    • 2. 2. “The Ego is not the subject”: the collapse of the rationalist construct.
    • 2. 3. The Freud–Kafka relationship: a historical-biographical problem.
  • Topic 3: Who/What is Gregor Samsa? Analysis of the novel’s main images and symbols
    • 3. 1. “Ungeheuren Ungeziefer”.
    • 3. 2. Freedom, modernity and alienation.
    • 3. 3. Grete Samsa.

UNIT 4: Reading and Study of The Stranger (1942) by Albert Camus (1913–1960)

  • Topic 1: The historical topos of the “total crisis”: the political situation in Europe during the first half of the twentieth century
    • 1. 1. The failure of European identity: the rise of totalitarian systems and the breakdown of a millennia-old “cultural tension”.
    • 1. 2. Organicism, collectivism and eclecticism: new approaches to the problem of the Self and the State.
  • Topic 2: Philosophy in the “Interwar Period”: radical anthropological systems
    • 2. 1. Defeated man: Surrealism and Dadaism.
    • 2. 2. Negated man: Nihilism and the philosophy of the absurd.
    • 2. 3. Man in “revolt”: Jean-Paul Sartre’s (1905–1980) humanist existentialism.
  • Topic 3: Camus’s “heroism”: analysis of the novel’s main themes and motifs
    • 3. 1. Novel and discourse: the essential place of consciousness and the value of human life.
    • 3. 2. Elements of Camus’s morality in the character of Meursault.
    • 3. 3. Symbolic organisation of the novel’s space. Motifs, symbols, themes and metaphors.

Methodology: 

Students’ work will be carried out mainly in the classroom. The following activities will take place and will require students’ active participation:

  • Lectures delivered by the lecturer, as well as sessions conducted through videos or videoconferences.
  • Independent study and further exploration through the search, reading and study of materials proposed by the lecturer.
  • Individual oral presentations by students on specific topics.
  • Text commentaries and written assignments.
  • Participation in class debates supervised by the lecturer, relating the topics discussed to the students’ social context.
  • Individual tutorials in which students may clarify doubts, review assignments and examinations, and discuss educational aspects related to the course.
  • Group tutorials (where appropriate).

Evaluation: 

The course will be considered successfully completed when the student has obtained an average grade of 5 or higher across all assessment activities and has completed all the required activities:

  • Final written examination (35%).
  • Written assignment (30%).
  • Participation and attendance (35%).

Evaluation Criteria: 

The course will be considered successfully completed when the student has obtained an average grade of 5 or higher across all assessment activities and has completed all the required activities:

  • Final written examination (35%). Written examination at the end of the semester, consisting of a conceptual analysis and a practical commentary based on the criteria applied throughout the different activities undertaken during the semester. Knowledge of concepts and authors. Ability to relate ideas and construct logical arguments. Knowledge of historical and social facts and references.
  • Written assignment (30%). Individual preparation of a 2, 500-word written assignment on one of the topics covered in the course syllabus. The written assignment will follow the following structure: a) summary of the rationale for the assignment; b) presentation of the research question; c) conclusions; d) bibliographical references. Firstly, originality in relation to the questions and readings proposed during the course will be assessed. Secondly, academic rigour will be taken into account.
  • Participation and attendance (35%). a) Reading for each unit; b) oral presentations on the readings; c) class debates; d) compulsory attendance. Students’ attitude during the sessions and the quality of their contributions will be assessed. Clear, rigorous and well-structured presentations following the guidelines provided for each reading will be positively assessed. Students’ ability to interact and exchange well-founded opinions will also be assessed. Students are expected to attend punctually the sessions scheduled for presentations and debates. Students may have a maximum of 4 unjustified absences without losing the possibility of obtaining the highest grade for this assessment criterion, which will depend on their attitude and participation in class. Students with 5 unjustified absences may obtain a maximum grade of 5/10 for this assessment criterion. Students with 6 unjustified absences will receive a grade of 0/10 for this assessment criterion. An absence may only be considered justified upon presentation of an official document and approval by the tutor, who will assess the reason for the absence.

Basic Bibliography: 

Introduction

  • M. Castro Santiago: “Filosofía y literatura como formas de conocimiento”, en:
  • Diálogo Filosófico, 2004, vol. 60, pp. 491-500.
  • R. Crane: “Literature, Philosophy and the History of Ideas”, en: Modern Philology, 1954, vol. 52, n. 2, pp. 73-83.
  • B. Nanay: “Philosophy versus Literature? Against the Discontinuity Thesis”, en: The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 2013, vol. 71, n. 4, pp. 349-360.
  • C. Thiebaut: “Filosofía y Literatura: de la retórica a la poética”, en: Isegoría, 1995, n. 11pp. 81-107.

Walden, or Life in the Woods (1854)

  • D. Clares: La ética de Thoreau y su relevancia para la cultura global, Universidad de Murcia, 2020.
  • F. Hermo: “Hacer de la vida un experimento: La filosofía en Henry David Thoreau”, en: Hybris, vol. 11, n. 1, pp. 45-77.
  • J. McKenzie: The Political Thought of Henry David Thoreau: Privatism and the Practice of Philosophy, University Press of Kentucky, 2016.
  • P. Rojas Valencia: “La estética de la sencillez: Una reflexión a propósito de La vida en los bosques de Thoreau”, en: Pensamiento, Palabra y Obra, 2018, vol. 19, pp. 26-39.
  • A. Versluis: The Esoteric Origins of the American Renaissance, Oxford University Press, 2001.
  • -------. American Transcendentalism and Asian Religions, Oxford University Press, 1993.

Bartleby (1853)

  • H. Melville, G. Deleuze, G. Agamben, J. L. Pardo: Preferiría no hacerlo: Bartleby el escribiente de Herman Melville, seguido de tres ensayos, Madrid, Pre-Textos, 2000.
  • N. Springer: “Bartleby and the Terror of Limitation”, en: PMLA, set. 1965, vol. LXXX, n. 1 4, part 1, pp. 45-77.

The Flowers of Evil (1857)

  • Azúa, F. de: Conocer a Baudelaire y su obra, Barcelona, Dopesa, 1978.
  • Jakobson, R. “Les Chats de Charles Baudelaire”, en: Ensayos de poética, Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2014.
  • Ruff, M. A. : L’Esprit du Mal et l’esthétique baudelairienne, Paris, Armand Colin, 1955.

The Metamorphosis (1912)

  • J. Bogaerts: “Sartre, Kafka and the Universality of the Literary Work”, en: Sartre Studies International, 2014, vol. 20, n. 1, pp. 69-85.
  • C. Conchillo Martínez: “La búsqueda de lo real en Kafka: Literatura y Filosofía”, en: STOA, 2021, vol. 12, n. 24, pp. 5-41.
  • A. Cools y V, Liska (eds. ): Kafka and the Universal, De Gruyter, Berlín, 2016.
  • L. La Rubia de Prado: “Recursos narrativos y repercusiones filosóficas: El Doppelgänger en la literatura de ideas (Gógol, Dostoievski y Kafka)”, en Endoxa, 2010. Vol. 26, pp. 107-136.
  • ------- El laberinto kafkiano: Claves hermenéuticas para la comprensión de la obra de Franz Kafka y la categoría estética de lo «kafkiano», UNED, 1999.

The Stranger (1942)

  • V. d’Angelo: “La rebelión existencial de Albert Camus”, en: Azafrea, 2015, vol. 17, pp. 195-217.
  • E. Hugues: The Cambridge Companion to Camus, Cambridge University Press, 2007.
  • A. Ramírez Medina: La filosofía trágica de Albert Camus: El tránsito del absurdo a la rebelión, Universidad de Málaga, 2001.
  • ---------- “La rebeldía humanista y la educación socrática en Albert Camus”, en: Pensamiento, 2021, vol. 77, n. 296, pp. 773-785.
  • D. Walker: Albert Camus and the Political Philosophy of the Absurd.
 

Additional Material: 

  • Abrams, M. H. (1974). El espejo y la lámpara. Teoría romántica y tradición crítica. Barral.
  • Adorno, Th. W. (2003). Notas sobre literatura. Obra completa, 11. Akal.
  • ______ (2004). Teoría estética. Obras completas, 7. Akal.
  • Barthes, R. (2022). Variaciones sobre la literatura. Paidós.
  • ______ (2022). El grado cero de la escritura y nuevos ensayos. Paidós.
  • Bayón, F. (2009). Filosofía y leyenda. Variaciones sobre la última modernidad (de Tolstói a Musil). Anthropos.
  • ______ (2004). “Crítica literaria”. En Gadamer, H. G. ; Durand, G. ; Ricoeur, P. et alii. , Diccionario de Hermenéutica, Universidad de Deusto, pp. 71-85.
  • Benjamin, W. (2006). “El concepto de crítica de arte en el romanticismo alemán/ «Las afinidades electivas de Goethe»/El origen del Trauerspiel alemán”. En OBRAS COMPLETAS. Libro I/vol. 1. Abada.
  • ______ (2008). “La obra de arte en la época de su reproductibilidad técnica. / Charles Baudelaire, un lírico en la época del altocapitalismo/Sobre el concepto de historia”. En OBRAS COMPLETAS. I/vol. 2. Abada.
  • Blanchot, M. (2005). El libro por venir. Trotta.
  • _____ (1991). De Kafka a Kafka. F. C. E.
  • Bloom, H. (1973). La angustia de las influencias. Monte Ávila Editores.
  • ______ (1995). El canon occidental. Anagrama.
  • Blumenberg, H. Paradigmas para una metaforología. Trotta.
  • ______ (2003). Trabajo sobre el mito. Paidós.
  • Camus, A. (2021). El hombre rebelde. Random House Mondadori.
  • _____ (2021). Vivir la lucidez. Todos los carnets (1935-1959). Debate.
  • Casals, J. (2006). Afinidades vienesas. Sujeto, lenguaje, arte. Anagrama.
  • Cíxous, H. (2004). Deseo de escritura. Reverso.
  • Culler, J. (2000). Breve introducción a la teoría literaria. Crítica.
  • _____ (1998). Sobre la deconstrucción. Cátedra.
  • De Man, P. (1990). La resistencia a la teoría. Visor.
  • ______ (1996). Escritos críticos. Visor.
  • Derrida, J. (2013). La escritura y la diferencia. Anthropos.
  • ______ (20037). De la gramatología. Siglo Veintiuno Editores.
  • ______ (2015). Clamor. Glas. Oficina de Arte y Ediciones.
  • Eagleton, T. (1988). Una introducción a la teoría literaria. Fondo Cultura Económica.
  • _____ (2015). Cómo leer literatura. Península.
  • Eco, U. (1993). Lector in fábula. La cooperación interpretativa en los textos narrativos. Lumen.
  • Fletcher, A. (2002). Alegoría. Teoría de un modo simbólico. Akal.
  • Foucault, M. (1999). Entre filosofía y literatura. Paidós.
  • Frye, N. (1991). Anatomía de la crítica. Monte Ávila.
  • Heidegger, M. (2010). Caminos de bosque. Alianza.
  • Hofmannstahl, H. von. (2008). Una carta (de Lord Philipp Chandos a Sir Francis Bacon). Pre-Textos.
  • Jameson, F. (2018). Las antinomias del realismo. Akal.
  • _____ (2009). Arqueologías del futuro. El deseo llamado utopía y otras aproximaciones de ciencia ficción. Akal.
  • Jauss, H. R. (2012). Caminos de la comprensión. Antonio Machado Libros.
  • Lukács, G. (2016). Teoría de la novela. Debolsillo.
  • Magris, C. (1998). El mito habsbúrgico en la literatura austriaca moderna. UNAM.
  • Millet, K. (2010). Política sexual. Cátedra.
  • Praz, M. (1999). La carne, la muerte y el diablo en la literatura romántica. Acantilado.
  • Ricoeur, P. (2003). Tiempo y narración III. El tiempo narrado. Siglo XXI.
  • Said, E. (2018). Cultura e imperialismo. Debate.
  • Sebald, W. G. (2006). Pútrida patria. Ensayos sobre literatura. Anagrama.
  • Shatz, A. (2024). La clínica rebelde. Las vidas revolucionarias de Frantz Fanon. Debate
  • Sontag, S. (2007). Contra la interpretación. Debolsillo.
  • Spivak, G. CH. (2010). Crítica de la razón poscolonial. Hacia una historia del presente evanescente. Akal.
  • Stach, R. (2016). Kafka. Acantilado
  • Steiner, G. (2002). Tolstoi o Dostoievski. Siruela.
  • Warning, R. (ed). (1989). Estética de la recepción. Visor.