Rereading Classics: Experiencing Art and Cultural Theory

“The classics are the books of which we usually hear people say, ‘I am re-reading…’ and never ‘I am reading…’” 

• Italo Calvino, Why Read the Classics?  

Barthes writes, “Those who fail to re-read are obliged to read the same story everywhere.”  How can we re-read classics in a new light with each re-reading? If we agree with what Oscar Wilde says, “It is through art, and through art only, that we can realise our perfection,” how possible can the re-reading of classics be consummated by art and cultural theory? How can classics, in return, help to interpret art and cultural theory differently?  

This course continues to explore the possible relationships between art and cultural theory through re-/reading classics with the following topics:  

(1) Ai Wei Wei, Duchamp and detournement: re-reading “traditions”; 

(2) Eternal return of the different: Journey to the West and Carmen; 

(3) Classic beauty of homosexual youth: Symposium, Death in Venice, and beyond; and 

(4) Infinite responsibility to the classics: Hamlet, Abraham, Ip Man, Derrida, and more. 

No prior knowledge is needed — or it will only prevent us from re-reading classics in a contemporary manner.