Spring 2010

Instructor: Prof. James Simpson

What is the function of literary texts in moments, from Plato to the Russian Revolution, that promise total, enlightened societal transformation? A hypothesis: literary texts do not participate easily in the new order. Literary texts are more divided in their sympathies; they recognize the value of the past order; they reveal the ways in which the repressed past resurfaces. They resist the textual simplicities of philosophy. Which do we believe: philosophy, or literature?

Taught through the Harvard College General Education Program, Culture and Belief Division.