Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Explores influential works of literature with a particular emphasis on how they exist across temporal and/or spatial divides, how they alternately bridge and reinforce differences of time, culture, and place. May be repeated for credit once if different topic is taught.

COURSE DETAILS:

Trust in Literature: from Noir to Neo-Noir

Noir was a term used by critics to describe a group of twentieth century films and novels dealing with dark, cynical themes. Noir has burgeoned and we now speak of neo-noir. This course will trace the origins of novelistic noir in the early twentieth century, noting that today noir has splintered into many subgenres, from rural noir to scandi-noir (and Vancouver noir). We will focus on themes such as despair, corruption, uncertainty, and above all the erosion of trust. 

After outlining noir’s origins, and noir's relationship to the murder mystery and the detective novel traditions, we will begin with two of Dashiell Hammett's American hardboiled classics: Red Harvest (1929) The Maltese Falcon (1930). Then we will read James Cain’s cynical masterpieces The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934), and Double Indemnity (1936). In the first works, by Hammett, there's no trust in a corrupt society, and little trust between people, even if they claim to be in love. In Cain's works, there's no trust, even between lovers whose crimes mean they should have extra reasons to trust each other.

From there we move on to a work from the 1950s  — Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955) — that takes traditional noir in a different, psychological, direction but continues the theme of the loss of trust, this time between "friends". Finally, we will cover another neo-noir work, this time from the 1960s: Pop. 1280 (1964) by Jim Thompson, which takes distrust and mistrust to another level.

In addition to studying the novels listed, students must be prepared to view some films, in Lecture and at home, and to discuss them in Seminar. A syllabus will be provided on Canvas. Essay topics will be supplied. I have provided ISBN numbers but any editions -- including Kindle/e-book -- will suffice. We are reading SIX works but most are fairly short and none is long. We will read the novels in the order they are listed above (also chronologically by publication date). Be aware that there are scenes, events, themes etc., presented in some of these works that we wouldn't endorse or condone today. 

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

REQUIRED READING NOTES: