2016 - Fall

Critical Survey

Course Number: JOUR-GA 1184.001

Day & Time: Wednesday, 10:00am-1:40pm

Location: 7th Floor Library

Instructor: Ruth Franklin

This is a course in reading and writing criticism. Our goal is to introduce ourselves to some of the best cultural critics (mainly of the 20th century); chart the ways in which the nature of 20th-century criticism — and art — have changed; investigate some of the major questions that preoccupy contemporary critics (especially the nature of modernism/postmodernism, high and low culture, irony and sincerity, and the culture wars); and begin to master some forms of critical writing. The paradox of how to develop a critical voice without writing directly about oneself will be explored. Among the critics we’ll study are James Agee, Pauline Kael, John Berger, George Orwell, Gilbert Seldes, Susan Sontag, Lionel Trilling, Greil Marcus, Albert Murray, Norman Mailer and Wendy Steiner. Open to CRC students only.