Course Description
An investigation of Western literary and artistic interpretations of the Bible, its narratives, characters, and themes.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will be expected to engage critically with the
material on a level that conforms with the standards of
scholarship set forth by the Graduate School. For every primary
text assigned, graduate students will be required to examine a
minimum of two critical articles and demonstrate that they can
integrate their knowledge of secondary sources with their own
analysis of the primary text. Graduate student papers will be
twice the length of undergraduate student papers and involve a
substantial research component: they will be asked to
incorporate primary evidence (historical, archeological,
philological) into an integrated analysis of the text or texts
they choose to examine.
Athena Title
Bible in Literature and Art
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in CMLT 4160E or CMLT 6160E
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
The objective of this course is to introduce students to a wide variety of literature and art that represents biblical themes, stories, and characters. Students will gain a more scholarly familiarity with some of the central characters and stories in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, such as the creation narrative, the patriarchs, the Exodus from Egypt, Samson, the saga of David, and the life and death of Jesus. Students will become acquainted with a variety of media and genres in Western painting and sculpture, drama, poetry, fiction, and film, from the Renaissance to the 20th century. Through careful analysis, students will acquire a better knowledge of the social, historical, political and cultural contexts within which these texts and artworks were created and the different ways in which biblical traditions were appropriated. In addition, through oral presentations and expository assignments, the course will help students develop their critical thinking and communication skills.
Topical Outline
The course is organized as a series of parallel investigations: a close reading of a particular section of the Hebrew Bible or New Testament followed by a close reading of a number of works of literature and art that recreate the story, characters, and themes of the biblical text. The specific works studied will vary with the individual instructor. The following is a sample of readings for a single semester: Genesis 22 (binding of Isaac) Soren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling (1843) S.Y. Agnon, Only Yesterday (1945) Genesis 37-50 (Joseph) Thomas Mann, The Young Joseph (1934) Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (2000) Judges 13-16 (Samson) John Milton, Samson Agonistes (1671) Ze'ev Jabotinsky, Samson the Nazarine (1930) Cecile B. DeMille, Samson and Delilah (1949) David Grossman, Lion's Honey: The Myth of Samson (2005) 1-2 Samuel (King David) Joseph Heller, God Knows (1984) Moshe Shamir, David's Stranger (1956) Gospel of Mark Gospel of John Nikos Kazantzakis, The Last Temptation (1960) Norman Jewison, Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) Terry Jones, Life of Brian (1979)
Syllabus