After this course, I can definintely say I have developed a critical eye for freaks and geeks in fiction. I like the theories of patriarchal rule and feminism, because that is not usually what I read for in texts or novels but after so many examples of this concept and its subversion in Nights at the Circus it will be hard to miss in the future. I especially like the concept of subversion, because once I learned what that word meant (ha ha) I could see it everywhere! I found it especially interesting when the subversion happens between reader and author, such as in Never Let Me Go, where Ishiguro subverts the concept of "freak" from being the studnets to humankind for subjecting the students to such an inhumane future. So I would like to say goodbye to the books that I'll be selling, the class discussions and debates over freakery. It has been fun!
However after reading the course novels, I reailze how much I've been taking freaks and geeks for granted! Being aware of concepts like magical realism, carnivalesque, the grotesque body, and the freak as a subjective, ever-changing being, I am compelled to re-read books like The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood, to better understand Marian's relationship and fear with food, marriage, and love. I would be elated to analyze Franz Kafka's Metamorphasis if I didn't already read that one on a yearly basis. So in fact I'd like to say hello to the freaks and geeks I will encounter in my future reads, with a better understanding of what truly makes their story "freaky".
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I'm glad you've found the discussions fun.
ReplyDeleteA bunch of the theories we've discussed in the course are absolutely applicable to Atwood (Edible Woman, Handmaid's Tale, and even her more Sci-Fi texts, like the recent novels).