Literature as Resistance: Recognizing, Unmasking and Countering Totalitarian Tendencies
Thursdays evenings, 7pm ET, 1.5 hr - First Class Sept 7, 2023
Throughout the course, students will use the texts to examine themes within technocratic/dictatorial systems such as:
Lesson 1:
Lesson Tasks:
Lesson Objective: Students get to know one another and understand relevant terms related to dystopian literature as a genre of fiction and its historical development.
Lesson 2:
Lesson Tasks:
Lesson Objective: Students understand methods used by authors of fiction to construct narratives and convey information to reader.
Next Assignment:
Students will prepare short oral presentation (5 min) on a historical example of a technocracy/scientific dictatorship.
Lesson 3:
Lesson Tasks:
Lesson Objective: Students understand characteristics of technocracies & scientific dictatorships and recognize examples of how various types of these systems have existed over time. Students are prepared with requisite background knowledge to read “The Machine Stops.”
Next Assignment:
Read “The Machine Stops” by E.M. Forster.
Lesson 4:
Lesson Tasks:
Lesson Objective: Students recognize themes in a dystopian short story and are more prepared to undertake a more complex reading in 1984.
Next Assignment:
Read Section One of 1984.
Lesson 5:
Lesson Task:
Lesson Objective: Students recognize literary themes and devices as well as recognize
relevant insights on dystopian elements that might inform our view of present day.
Assignment:
Read Section Two of 1984.
Lesson 6:
Lesson Task:
Lesson Objective: Students recognize literary themes and devices as well as recognize
relevant insights on dystopian elements presented thus far in the text.
Next Assignment:
Read Section Three of 1984.
Lesson 7:
Lesson Tasks:
Lesson Objective: Students recognize literary themes and devices as well as recognize
relevant insights on dystopian elements presented throughout entirety of 1984. Students are prepared to read Brave New World.
Next Assignment:
Read Chapters 1-5 of Brave New World.
Lesson 8:
Lesson Tasks:
and progresses, literary themes, and applications to our current day.
Lesson Objective: Students recognize literary themes and devices as well as recognize
relevant insights on dystopian elements presented throughout first five chapters of novel.
Next Assignment:
Read Chapters 6-11 of Brave New World.
Lesson 9:
Lesson Task:
Lesson Objective: Students recognize literary themes and devices as well as recognize
relevant insights on dystopian elements presented thus far in the text.
Next Assignment:
Read Chapters 12-18 of Brave New World.
Lesson 10:
Lesson Tasks:
Lesson Objective: Students recognize literary themes and devices as well as recognize
relevant insights on dystopian elements presented throughout novel.
Next Assignment:
Lesson 11:
Lesson Tasks:
Lesson Objective: Students recognize the historical longevity of technocratic ideas. Students are prepared to read Fahrenheit 451.
Next Assignment:
Read Part 1 of Fahrenheit 451.
Lesson 12:
Lesson Task:
begins to progress, literary themes, and applications to our current day.
Lesson Objective: Students recognize literary themes and devices as well as recognize
relevant insights on dystopian elements presented through Part 1.
Next Assignment:
Read Part 2 of Fahrenheit 451.
Lesson 13:
Lesson Task:
Lesson Objective: Students recognize literary themes and devices as well as recognize
relevant insights on dystopian elements presented thus far through Parts 1&2 of novel.
Next Assignment:
Read Part 3 of Fahrenheit 451, Appendix, and Coda.
Lesson 14:
Lesson Tasks:
Lesson Objective: Students recognize literary themes and devices as well as recognize
relevant insights on dystopian elements presented throughout Fahrenheit 451. Students are prepared to read We by Yevgeny Zamyatin.
Next Assignment:
Read Records 1-12 of We.
Lesson 15:
Lesson Task:
Lesson Objective: Students recognize literary themes and devices as well as recognize
relevant insights on dystopian elements presented through opening and beginning Records.
Next Assignment:
Read Records 13-27 of We.
Lesson 16:
Lesson Task:
Lesson Objective: Students recognize literary themes and devices as well as recognize
relevant insights on dystopian elements presented thus far throughout novel.
Next Assignment:
Read Records 28-40 and Notes of We.
Lesson 17:
Lesson Tasks:
Lesson Objective: Students recognize literary themes and devices as well as recognize
relevant insights on dystopian elements presented throughout novel. Students are prepared to view Metropolis.
Next Assignment:
Watch Metropolis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_4no842TX8
Lesson 18:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSvb_ZTYS6A
Lesson Objective: Students recognize themes and devices as well as recognize
relevant insights on dystopian elements presented in Metropolis and how to apply those to today.
Lesson 19:
Lesson Tasks:
For Reference and Material for Part II or continuance…
George Orwell:
"Politics and the English Language"
Philip K. Dick:
"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"
"The Minority Report"
Margaret Atwood:
"The Handmaid's Tale"
"In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination"
Neal Stephenson:
"Snow Crash"
Yuval Noah Harari:
"Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow"
William Gibson:
"Neuromancer"
Cory Doctorow:
"Little Brother"
Dave Eggers:
"The Circle"
Shoshana Zuboff:
"The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power"
Alexander Solzhenitsyn: Solzhenitsyn's works, such as "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" and "The Gulag Archipelago," expose the horrors of Soviet totalitarianism and delve into questions of human dignity, resistance, and the search for meaning in oppressive systems.
Leo Tolstoy: Tolstoy's exploration of morality, spirituality, and the individual's struggle against societal norms can provide philosophical perspectives on themes of freedom and oppressive systems.
Fyodor Dostoevsky: Dostoevsky's works, including "Crime and Punishment" and "The Brothers Karamazov," delve into psychological depth, morality, existentialism, and the consequences of totalitarian ideologies.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn: Solzhenitsyn's works, such as "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" and "The Gulag Archipelago," expose the horrors of Soviet totalitarianism and delve into questions of human dignity, resistance, and the search for meaning in oppressive systems.
Leo Tolstoy: Tolstoy's exploration of morality, spirituality, and the individual's struggle against societal norms can provide philosophical perspectives on themes of freedom and oppressive systems.
Fyodor Dostoevsky: Dostoevsky's works, including "Crime and Punishment" and "The Brothers Karamazov," delve into psychological depth, morality, existentialism, and the consequences of totalitarian ideologies.
Mattias Desment – “The Psychology of Totalitarianism” - 2022