Aesthetics of Love: A History

6 Thursdays, 9:30-11:20, October 21-December 2 (no class November 11)
SCFC 570 | Room 1530

While studies on sex, eroticism and pornography abound, little research is done on love, a subject deemed ‘unfashionable’ at the beginning of the third millennium. And yet, the paths of love crisscross the length and breadth of world literature, visual arts and music.

But do we understand ‘love’ the same way as Ancient Romans or troubadours did? We will examine the concept of love as it evolved in Western society from antiquity to modern times; we will look at the link between love and power; love and death; the loss of one’s identity and personal freedom.

Our journey into the history of ideas will be accompanied by a survey of great pieces of literature and film, followed by discussions. Recommended readings: Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert and Death in Venice by Thomas Mann

Session 1

• Philosophy of Love in Ancient Greece and Rome: Love of Good
• Plato: Phaedrus and Symposium,
• Ovid: Ars Amatoria, Metamorphosis, (Myth of Pygmalion and Galatea)
• Cutullus
• Discussion
• Middle Ages: Judaeo-Christian Tradition: Love of God
• Elements of Christian Love:
• Eros (as a Mystical Ascend)
• Philia (brotherhood of men, fellowship of believers)
• Agape (love as "empathy" and "mercy")
• Caritas (loving-kindness, charity)
• Discussion

Session 2

• Courtly love of Troubadours: Its Essence and Ideas; Love of Humans
• Story of Abelard and Eloise
• Dante, Vita Nouva
• Discussion

Session 3

• Renaissance
• Petrarch, Canzoniere
• Vittoria Colonna
• Discussion

Session 4

• Romanticism and Romantic Love
• Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther

Session 5

• Romanticism condemned and satirized
• Flaubert, Madame Bovary
• Discussion

Session 6

• Thomas Mann, Death in Venice
• Visconti, Death in Venice, with Dirk Bogard

Other Recommended Readings:

• Plato, The Symposium
• Octavio Paz, The Double Flame: Love and Eroticism
• Dante Alighieri, La Vita Nuova
• Petrarch, Canzoniere
• Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther
  

Marina Sonkina is a former professor of Literature at Moscow State University.