106-224 Language of Feeling

It is recommended that students wishing to continue with a major in Creative Writing also complete a first year subject in English Literary Studies as well as meeting the first year Creative Writing prerequisite (see below)

12.5 points of first year English including either 106-186 Creative Writing: Autofictions or 760-101 Creative Writing: Ideas and Practice.

Feeling is an integral part of selfhood; likewise, every day we attribute feelings to others, as part of our communication with them. This subject starts from the philosophical difficulty of how we can know there are 'other minds' at all, to reflect on human feelings - Love, Pleasure, Sadness, Grief, Hate, Anger, Remorse, Guilt, Envy, Jealousy, Fear, Desire, Horror, Humour ‐ as critical elements in our communication with others, as well as of our expression of ourselves. We will examine feeling as a force in writing, the deployment of language and structure to express it and to produce it in other readers. In this exploration, we will use theories of affect and emotion to suggest directions for practice, including notions of the author, writer, reader and spectator that can help us conceptualise the action of feeling. Topics could include: the physiognomy of the face and bearing; the impact of bodily chemistry on mood and on each other; the question of translation and the culturally 'other'; narcissism and pleasure in writing; narrative theories of self; kinaesthetics and the curative power of the expression of feeling; dreams and other altered states of consciousness; myths and legends as vehicles of wisdom about feelings eg jealousy of the gods etc; violence and 'anti-social' behaviour; symbolising emotion in art, dance and traditional rhetoric; the literature of love & desire.

• acquire skills in research, critical thinking and analysis;

• acquire skills in written communication and attention to detail;

• acquire skills in understanding social, ethical and cultural context;

• acquire skills in thinking in theoretical terms and thinking creatively.

A 1500 word critical discussion 40% (due mid-semester); a 2000 word creative piece 50% (due at the end of the semester); a class presentation equivalent to 500 words 10%. Students who submit work late without a formal approved extension will have marks deducted at the rate of 1% per day late.

A subject reader will be available from the University Bookshop.