COLLEGE WRITING in Fall 2024 (EN1010D)

The theme of the metamorphose has suffused myths and fictions since antiquity. In this course, we will consider ancient and recent narratives of metamorphosis and focus on the meeting of humanity and animality in literature from The Golden Ass by Apuleius to The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka to The Passion According to G.H. by Clarice Lispector. This course explores the ways the theme of the metamorphose challenges the porosity between the human and the animal, the opposition between culture and nature, and how it offers a commentary on society, identity, alterity, and gender. We will discuss each metamorphosis both at a prosaic and metaphorical level, and analyze how the persons are transformed, both physically and psychologically, by their new condition. We will also pay particular attention to the narrative point of view, the effect, and the genre of the texts, and observe how they participate in the way readers approach these magical, unexplained, or incongruous transformations.