This course explores the depiction of the Renaissance in a wide range of plays, films and novels. The focus is on the exchange between film, fiction, and ‘fact’, and on how the values and concerns of the present shape creative recreations of the past in popular culture. The sequence however will not be chronological. We will situate our discussion in the broader context of human rights and freedoms. We will examine cases where literature has been censored and writers have been imprisoned or driven into exile. Part of this course involves a community service-learning component. We will consider how this literature contributes to debate and advocacy around issues of social justice.
This course explores the depiction of the Renaissance in a wide range of plays, films and novels. The focus is on the exchange between film, fiction, and ‘fact’, and on how the values and concerns of the present shape creative recreations of the past in popular culture. The sequence however will not be chronological. We will situate our discussion in the broader context of human rights and freedoms. We will examine cases where literature has been censored and writers have been imprisoned or driven into exile. Part of this course involves a community service-learning component. We will consider how this literature contributes to debate and advocacy around issues of social justice.
