COML 4785

COML 4785

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2016-2017.

This course examines how skin and bodily margins in drama, performance art, and film shape the way we understand the human and its markers of identity, from the strange carapace that Oedipus presents in the ancient Theater of Dionysus to the "skin suspensions" of the post-body performance artist Stelarc. Readings and viewings include plays from the ancient, medieval, early modern, and modern periods; films by Peter Greenaway, Jenny Livingston, and Jim Jarmusch; and performances by Karen Finley and Marina Abramovic. We will explore concepts such as Julia Kristeva's abjection, Antonin Artaud's "theater of cruelty," and Georges Bataille's "visions of excess," as different ways of approaching what lies at and beyond the edges of the human.

When Offered Spring.

Permission Note Enrollment limited to: 15 students. Intended for advanced undergraduates and graduate students.

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: CLASS 4602PMA 4965SHUM 4612

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16494 COML 4785   SEM 101