Film and narrative fiction are the dominant forms of storytelling in contemporary society. For the past two hundred years the novel enjoyed the reputation of being the most powerful medium to convey a story. Now, for over a hundred years, cinema perhaps has become the most popular vehicle to do that. These two art forms have many things in common: from a particular point of view and using a unique language they narrate a series of events that involve characters placed in time and space. When analyzed each one of these elements presents a complex set of issues and problems: what kind of language it's been used, what are the values represented by the point of view of the narrator, who is talking and to whom, what are the political, economic, and social implications of the story that is presented, etcetera. This course is designed to explore these and many others issues as we look at films and literary texts, and passed them through the filter of contemporary theories of narrative. Novels and films may include works by Truman Capote, Susan Orlean, Philip Roth, Mary Gaitskill, Henry Miller, etc.
Film and narrative fiction are the dominant forms of storytelling in contemporary society. For the past two hundred years the novel enjoyed the reputation of being the most powerful medium to convey a story. Now, for over a hundred years, cinema perhaps has become the most popular vehicle to do that. These two art forms have many things in common: from a particular point of view and using a unique language they narrate a series of events that involve characters placed in time and space. When analyzed each one of these elements presents a complex set of issues and problems: what kind of language it's been used, what are the values represented by the point of view of the narrator, who is talking and to whom, what are the political, economic, and social implications of the story that is presented, etcetera. This course is designed to explore these and many others issues as we look at films and literary texts, and passed them through the filter of contemporary theories of narrative. Novels and films may include works by Truman Capote, Susan Orlean, Philip Roth, Mary Gaitskill, Henry Miller, etc.