ENGLIT 0717 - FAIRY TRADITION

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
Fairies go by many names: the Folk, the Good People, the Other Crowd, Sidhe, fey. Usually beautiful, ethereal, and morally ambiguous, fairies are a staple of western folklore and legend. Once associated with the realm of the dead and lost magic, fairies are now creatures of children's literature and fantasy. The fairy tradition encompasses vital cultural questions about the work of imagination, magic, and vision in our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Either elusive or non-existent, depending on perspective, fairy lore evokes issues related to: the reliability of witness and of the senses; privileged and discounted perception; the interplay of the imagination and knowledge; and the role of cultural authority. Students will consider the significance of these themes through aspects of fairy folklore, book history, portrayals of childhood, reception studies, and an end-of-term creative project.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Seminar
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Attributes: DSAS Literature General Ed. Requirement, SCI Polymathic Contexts: Humanistic GE. Req.

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