Topic outline

  • General

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  • Course description

    How is the artist to respond when the virtual becomes the real and when words cannot carry the weight of trauma? How can an author avoid the accusations of voyeuristic prurience or crass opportunism when he or she attempts to re-present events of public violence? This multi-disciplinary course examines work from a wide range of modes, including fiction, poetry, film and graphic art, and looks at the difficulties of inscribing trauma and the ethics and praxis of remembrance. Texts will include Spiegelman's Maus, Joe Sacco’s Footnotes in Gaza, and Folman's Waltz with Bashir. The key events covered on this course are the Holocaust, the Indonesian genocide, the Sabra and Shatila massacre, 9-11, the Gulf War and the conflict in the Balkans.

    Course coordinator Prof. Shane A. Alcobia murphy, sam@abdn.ac.uk

  • What will timetable look like?

    2 hour lecture

    2 hour tutorial

    total 4 hours a week

  • How will I be assessed?

    Seminar assessment mark (10%)
    Oral presentation (10%)
    Essay 3000 words (80%)

  • What do previous students think of the course?

    "The professor was very inclusive and extremely careful at respecting everyone."

    "Lots of useful materials uploaded to MyAberdeen"

    "The teaching was great and actually made you think"

  • Useful links