01
MayThe End of the World. Spring 2011. Undergraduate course. Description.
The End of the World is one of those narratives that pervades our cultures. There are, however, several different ends of the world, some of which we are going to explore in this course:
- Theological narratives of diverse religious origins: the world comes to an end, but only bodily, which then elicits a history of the soul.
- Scientific narratives: these include different narratives that are sort of external to the human being (asteroids, the life of the Solar System, the natural cycles, etc.)
- Historical narratives: in them the end of the world as the end of History, and has a symbolic character.
- Voluntary destruction of the world, as in the last war, nuclear dangers, etc.
- Narratives related to our uses of the planet, as in ecological fictions of the end of the world. Narratives related to social issues (the end of the world as a fiction on drugs and trafficking, for instance).
To do this, we are going to go backwards -trying, perhaps, to get away from the future, traveling to the past-, and we will start by reading a 2009 novel by Mexican author Yuri Herrera, Señales que precederán al fin del mundo. In our trip backwards, we will be watching documentaries, films, and other images about the end of the world (including Alex de la Iglesia’s El día de la bestia, 1995). We will also be reading texts from the Baroque, the Renaissance, and the Middle Ages, and we will end by re-visiting the Book of Revelation from the Bible, and some of the visual commentaries on this book as we can find them in Medieval Manuscripts -the so-called Beatos; since one of those beatos is now conserved at the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, we will try to pay it a visit.
Most of our materials come from Iberian and Latin American cultures, and some others are from other origins, but will allow as to either theorize about this narrative and its fictions, and establish a comparative frame.
We will study how the idea of the end of the world is, so to speak, an empty one, that needs to be filled with narratives, so that the prophecy of the end can be fulfilled. We will then analyse what are the political, cultural, and even legal uses of the narratives about the end of the world.
Discussions are automatically filtered and moderated to prevent spam, and unsuitable or offensive messages. Code, html tags, or any form of malicious code will also be eliminated. Prior to commenting, users must enter a valid email address. If in doubt, please refer to the terms of our privacy policy.
Please, fill all the required fields in the form below, and send your comment. It will be queued pending moderation.