Ruth Kluger's book signing (author of Still Alive: A Holocaust Girlhood Remembered)
Krieger Hall 400, Tuesday, April 7th, 3-4:30.
Hart says: "Students (or instructors) can bring their books and Ruth will sign."
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Ursula Mahlendorf, reading from The Shame of Survival: Working Through a Nazi Childhood
Friday, april 3rd at 2pm in the German Dept Seminar Room (Krieger Hall 400D).
Extra credit if you go to this and write a moderately long blog post about it
Hart says: "The book just came out with U of Pennsylvania Press and this is her first reading. I've read it --it's excellent, especially on the last days of the war. It features deserters strung up from lampposts (Brecht) and the Nazi propaganda about the miracle weapon that was soon to be ready and would defeat all enemies. Mahlendorf notes that there was no evacuation plan on the Eastern Front--they were just going to win. also good stuff on the Hitler Youth organization and education. We'd love to see you there."
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University of California Irvine Critical Theory Institute presents
AbdouMaliq Simone, "Urban Intersections and Provisional Publics"
Monday, April 13, 2009, 3:00-5:00PM, Humanities Instructional Building Room 135
Extra credit if you go to this and write a moderately long blog post about it
AbdouMaliq Simone is Professor of Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London. Prior to this he taught at several universities across Africa, in the US, and spent many years working for NGOs and applied research institutions. He is the author of For the City yet to Come: Changing African Life in Four Cities (Duke, 2004).
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Random tidbit: Someone has reinterpreted the Oedipus trilogy using a gospel choir
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11. P.105. a) Lines 995-1004, in which Antigone explains that she would only have defied the edict to bury a brother, not for a husband or child, have baffled readers and spectators for centuries. What is Antigone saying and how is it consistent or inconsistent with what she says and does in the play? Can a true representative of kinship issues assert that she would not bury a husband or child?
ReplyDeleteShe says this because she can never have another brother. She can produce another child or remarry someone but she states that since "...Mother and father both lost in the halls of Death, no brother could ever spring to light again" (line 1002-1004). Even though it sounds bad her logic makes sense as a husband or child are easier to "replace" than a brother would be.
b) Goethe said that he hoped that scholars would someday discover that these lines were not part of the play. Do you share his sentiments? Why or why not?
I do not share his sentiments because it goes along with what Prof. Hart was saying that Antigone is not purely driven by family. It also could make the audience think about how much they value their siblings.
12. Since the play involves the clash of two worlds or at least of two viewpoints, it is natural that one would like to come to some sort of conclusion as to who was right or who was wrong or whether there is a third position. Which way do you incline? Can you support either side or can you support both? Or neither? Give your reasons.
ReplyDelete-Annie Ditta (since my last name doesn't appear in my comment thing. :( )
I feel that I can support both sides by drawing upon what was said today in lecture. Both Antigone and Creon are right in their own ways (justice and sticking by proclamations is good for a leader, but respect for family and the dead is also important, though in a different way). I personally feel, however, that Creon was more wrong in the sense that he was so blind that he could not see anything else until he had an epiphany - but of course by then it was too late. He then suffers more, which I think is more than the amount of suffering that he inflicted upon the body and Antigone. Since in life I do not have specific contact with the ruling system as Creon and Antigone do, I feel myself identifying more with Antigone, as she upholds familial values. In all, I feel that both sides were right and wrong in that they were too "one-sided" to quote Professor Hart.
While in lecture, Professor Hart pointed out something interesting that I did not quite agree with. In her interpretation, she says that Antigone is very unkind to her sister and suggested that she does not like her sister for not originally wanting to help in the burial of Polynices. However, I interpreted as Antigone only acting unkind to her sister in order to protect her. Antigone originally asked Ismene if she wanted to help her in the burial. After rejecting her sister, Antigone calmly understood Ismene's reasons of not wanting to join. Respecting her decision, she goes ahead and buries the body. As she is caught soon after, Antigone starts to be really mean to her sister, I think in an attempt to stop Ismene from also getting punished and potentially getting executed. Antigone did say she would go to great lengths for her brother, because a brother could never be regenerated like a child or husband. Well, a sister can not be regenerated since their parents are dead. I don't think Antigone wants Ismene to suffer same fate as her and her brother. What do you guys think?
ReplyDelete9. How do you evaluate Antigone’s treatment of Ismene? Why won’t she let Ismene join her in death?
ReplyDeleteAfter Ismene refuses to partake in the burial, Antigone clearly deems her own sister as a coward, and looks down upon her. When Ismene tells her that she is afraid for her, Antigone coldly replies, "Don't fear for me. Set your own life in order" (63). Her belief that her actions serve a higher purpose, one above that of Creon and the state, fuels her pride. She boastfully states, "And even if I die in the act, that death will be a glory" (63). Antigone rejects her sister's attempt to die together because she wants the credit for herself. She lashes out, saying, "Who did the work? [...] I have no love for a friend who loves in words alone" (87). Meaning: I actually went out and did something to prove my love. I can't accept someone who just speaks of love, because words without actions are empty.
I'm calling Christine's theory the "Harry and the Hendersons" theory of Antigone vs. Ismene, if you've ever seen that movie. (Or the recent episode of 30 Rock that parodied it.)
ReplyDelete