Master
2022/2023
Laughter and Carnival as Symptoms of the Coen Brothers Films
Category 'Best Course for Broadening Horizons and Diversity of Knowledge and Skills'
Category 'Best Course for New Knowledge and Skills'
Type:
Elective course (Foreign Languages and Intercultural Communication)
Area of studies:
Linguistics
Delivered by:
School of Foreign Languages
Where:
School of Foreign Languages
When:
1 year, 3, 4 module
Mode of studies:
distance learning
Online hours:
20
Open to:
everyone
Instructors:
Ekaterina Vladimirovna Chernetsova
Master’s programme:
Иностранные языки и межкультурная коммуникация
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
6
Contact hours:
50
Course Syllabus
Abstract
The course offers to observe and analyze films by the Coen brothers from perspectives of such concepts as laughter and carnival. The idea of the carnivalesque, specific nature of the comic within the frames of carnivalization and forms of its linguistic expression is a lens through which the Coens’ films narratives can be discussed in terms of language and communication.
Students will explore the relationships between comic and serious, and learn to distinguish between various forms of laughter in a narrative. The foundation for the analysis and comprehension of laughter and carnival will become Mikhail Bakhtin's carnival theory, elaborated in his book Rabelais and His World. It will serve to help to integrate the comic processes of the work with its larger thematic and artistic structures. Bakhtin used medieval carnival rituals, the feast of fools, and other festive ceremonies to explain the curious combination of seriousness and humor.
Traditions of unofficial popular culture represented by the philosopher are indeed seen in cinematic discourse of the Coen brothers. The carnivalesque spirit of films like Fargo (as well as TV series of the same name), O Brother, Where Art Thou? Burn After Reading, Hail, Caesar! The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, The Tragedy of Macbeth and others provides a useful way of examining the world which connects the comic scenes to the serious themes. The ideas of Victor Turner, C.L Barber, Michael Bristol, Jacques Lacan, Jil Deleuze, Sigmund Freud and others will develop more viable theoretical ideas for the analyses offered to students.
Learning Objectives
- To observe and analyze films by the Coen brothers from perspectives of such concepts as laughter and carnival
- To discuss the idea of the carnivalesque, specific nature of the comic within the frames of carnivalization and forms of its linguistic expression
- To introduce students to some of the basic ideas in cinema analysis that have a relationship with some of the concepts of linguistics and discourse analysis
- To explore the relationships between comic and serious, and learn to distinguish between various forms of laughter
Expected Learning Outcomes
- to learn to identify and measure the idea of the carnivalesque and apply it to literature, cinema and other discourse practices
- to attain better understanding of cinematic discourse and to acquire basic skills of cinema analysis
- to learn to distinguish between various forms of laughter on the basis of foundational texts considering the issues
- to develop more viable ideas concerning discourses where laughter and the carnivalesque can be revealed
- To develop more viable theoretical ideas of laughter psychology and philosophy
Course Contents
- Theories of laughter
- Carnivalesque laughter
- Roots
- Basics of carnivalesque culture
- Laughter in Cinema
- Laughter and carnivalesque in the Coen brothers films
Assessment Elements
- Class attendance and active participation
- Writing Portfolio
- Essay (Exam)
- Presentation
- Online course
Interim Assessment
- 2022/2023 4th module0.25 * Class attendance and active participation + 0.3 * Essay (Exam) + 0.15 * Writing Portfolio + 0.2 * Presentation + 0.1 * Online course
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- A history of Renaissance rhetoric, 1380-1620, Mack, P., 2013
- A philosophy of cinematic art, Gaut, B., 2010
- Boundas, C. V. (2006). Deleuze and Philosophy. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=165167
- Cinematic sociology : social life in film, , 2013
- De Lauretis, T. (2008). Freud’s Drive: Psychoanalysis, Literature and Film : Psychoanalysis, Literature and Film. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=266593
- Domański, J. (2013). Remarks on the Medieval and Renaissance ‘Contempt of the World’ and ‘Human Misery’ (Lotario – Poggio Bracciolini – Erasmus of Rotterdam). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.2A42D67E
- Film discourse interpretation : towards a new paradigm for multimodal film analysis, Wildfeuer, J., 2014
- Murray, M. J. (2016). Jacques Lacan : A Critical Introduction. London: Pluto Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1109040
- Stanivukovic, G. V. (2001). Ovid and the Renaissance Body. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=468363
- Stiegler, B., & Barker, S. (2011). Technics and Time, 3 : Cinematic Time and the Question of Malaise. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1080141
- Бахтин как философ : поступок, диалог, карнавал, Бонецкая, Н. К., 2022
- История средневековых развлечений : от куртуазных увеселений до карнавалов и праздников дураков IX - XVII века, Даркевич, В., 2019
- Книга М. М. Бахтина о Франсуа Рабле и ее значение для теории литературы, Попова, И. Л., 2009
- Козинцев, Г. М. О режиссуре. О комическом, эксцентрическом и гротескном искусстве. Наш современник Вильям Шекспир : учебное пособие / Г. М. Козинцев. — 2-е изд., стер. — Санкт-Петербург : Планета музыки, 2019. — 604 с. — ISBN 978-5-8114-4173-0. — Текст : электронный // Лань : электронно-библиотечная система. — URL: https://e.lanbook.com/book/119606 (дата обращения: 00.00.0000). — Режим доступа: для авториз. пользователей.
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- A history of philosophy. Vol.3: Late medieval and Renaissance philosophy, Copleston, F., 2003
- Christopher Cairns. (2018). The Renaissance Theatre : Texts, Performance and Design. Routledge.
- Cinematic sociology : social life in film, , 2010
- Hopkins, L., & Steggle, M. (2006). Renaissance Literature and Culture. London: Continuum. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=837464
- Laughter and ridicule : towards a social critique of humour, Billig, M., 2005
- Liisa Steinby, & Tintti Klapuri. (2013). Bakhtin and His Others : (Inter)subjectivity, Chronotope, Dialogism. Anthem Press.
- Sempere, J. P. (2014). The Influence of Mikhail Bakhtin on the Formation and Development of the Yale School of Deconstruction. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=772096
- The filmmaker's eye : learning (and breaking) the rules of cinematic composition, Merkado, G., 2011
- Лесков, Н.С. Смех и горе [Электронный ресурс] / Н.С. Лесков. - М.: Инфра-М, 2015. - 185 с. - Режим доступа http://znanium.com/catalog.php?bookinfo=527356 - Режим доступа: http://znanium.com/catalog/product/527356
- Многоголосица культур : продолжение карнавала, Константинова, Н. С., 2015
- Токарева, Г. А. У. Блейк: философия смеха и поэтика комического : монография / Г. А. Токарева. — 2-е изд.,стер. — Москва : ФЛИНТА, 2018. — 162 с. — ISBN 978-5-9765-3853-5. — Текст : электронный // Лань : электронно-библиотечная система. — URL: https://e.lanbook.com/book/113483 (дата обращения: 00.00.0000). — Режим доступа: для авториз. пользователей.