William Blake - Word and Vision 3301-LB2030
This course aims at exploring William Blake's poetry, particularly early prophetic books, in terms of both the written text and the visual component. Particular emphasis will be put on aesthetic ideas and symbolism that underlie Blake's art. Students will read chosen poems from Songs of Innocence and Experience, Auguries of Innocence, The Book of Thel, Visions of the Daughters of Albion, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, The First Book of Urizen, trying to trace characteristic motifs and recreate Blake's vision as a coherent whole. Blake's illustrations will be studied in detail from the illuminated plates, and the students will be asked to discuss the possible directions of interpretation which are suggested by the visual - verbal interrelation. The course will also focus on development and maturing of Blake's ideas of religion, spirituality, art and imagination. At the beginning of the course some time will be spent on revising the grounds of the ut pictura poesis debate and its position in the 18th and19th centuries. This will allow for sketching the context for the discussion about the complex relationships between the visual and the written form of artistic expression. The study of William Blake's texts will start from Songs of Innocence and Experience and Auguries of Innocence, as these poems form a stable ground for development of Blake's mature ideas. We will discuss the specific case of an artist illustrating his own poems. This will also lead to a discussion about Blake's vision of the states of Innocence and Experience and his views on maturity.Reading The Book of Thel we will think about specific symbolism of Blake's works, both poetry and painting, as well as the artists views on femininity, experience and adulthood. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell will be a starting point for exploring Blake's attitude towards conventional religion and conventional morality. We will discuss the artist's vision of the angels and devils, his ironic presentation of heaven and hell, his conviction that only dialectic and fruitful interaction of contraries leads to creativity and progression. Visions of the Daughters of Albion will be a continuation of our discussion about restrictions of conventional morality and religion, and it will also deal with the problems of gender and traditional male and female roles in society. We will also trace Blake's criticism of colonialism and colonial expansion that can be found in this poem. Finally, The First Book of Urizen will be an encounter with Blake's mature vision. Our discussion will mostly focus on the nature of the Creator of the material world. Blake's Creator is in fact a fallen Demiurge, similar to the one of Gnostic religion. Alternatively, he can be perceived as a principle of human reason divided from imagination, senses and emotions. We will see the negative poetics of the text and trace how Blake adopts and rewrites the story of creation in The Book of Genesis for his own purposes. Apart from the primary texts on the reading list, additional reading will be assigned for each week of the course.
Course coordinators
Type of course
Learning outcomes
Learning outcomes for courses approved before academic year 2022/23
Knowledge
Student will be able to:
- Identify and characterize on an advanced level the place and status of literary studies within the humanities
- Describe on an advanced level the current trends in literary and cultural studies research within English studies in the areas discussed during the course
- Characterize on an advanced level the principles of research design in literary and culture studies with special focus on the application of methods and tools in formulating research problems
- Identify the notions and principles pertinent to intellectual property and copyright
Abilities
Student will be able to:
- Apply advanced terminology and notions pertinent to literary studies, with special focus on terminology and techniques relating to close reading of a literary text, feminist and gender theories.
- Apply advanced research methodology within literary and culture studies and English studies, respecting ethical norms and copyright law
- Apply knowledge obtained during the course of studies to account for and solve a problem, thereby completing a research task related to the discipline literary studies and/or culture and religion studies
- Analyze linguistic, literary and cultural phenomena and draw generalizations on their basis in the context of societal, historical and economic factors on an advanced level
- Discern alternative methodological paradigms within a discipline
- Find information in various sources and critically assess its usefulness for research related to the topic of the MA project
Social competences
Student will be able to:
- Apply knowledge and skills obtained during the course of studies to undertake lifelong learning, as well as personal and professional development
- Take responsibility for performing one’s professional duties, with due respect for the work of others, obey and develop the ethical norms in professional and academic settings related to the disciplines included on the curriculum of English studies
- Assess critically one’s own knowledge and skills related to the studies
- Value cultural heritage and cultural diversity as well as individual opinions
Learning outcomes for courses approved before academic year 2022/23
Knowledge: The graduate will be able to:
K_W01 Identify and characterize on an advanced level the place and status of literary and culture studies within the humanities
K_W02 Describe on an advanced level the current trends in literary and cultural studies research within English studies, particularly in relation to 19th century poetry
K_W04 Characterize on an advanced level the principles of research design in literary and culture studies with special focus on the application of methods and tools in formulating research problems, with particular attention to methods and tools especially relevant for the subject of the course.
K_W05 Identify the notions and principles pertinent to intellectual property and copyright
Abilities: the graduate is able to
K_U01 Apply advanced terminology and notions pertinent to the discipline (linguistics, literary studies, culture and religion studies)
K_U02 Apply advanced research methodology within literary and culture studies and English studies, respecting ethical norms and copyright law
K_U03 Apply knowledge obtained during the course of studies to account for and solve a problem, thereby completing a research task related to the discipline literary studies and/or culture and religion studies
K_U04 Analyze linguistic, literary and cultural phenomena and draw generalizations on their basis in the context of societal, historical and economic factors (particularly relevant for England in the19th century) on an advanced level
K_U05 Discern alternative methodological paradigms within a discipline
K_U06 Find information in various sources and critically assess its usefulness for research related to the topic of the MA project
Social competences: the graduate is ready to
K_K02 Apply knowledge and skills obtained during the course of studies to undertake lifelong learning, as well as personal and professional development
K_K03 Take responsibility for performing one’s professional duties, with due respect for the work of others, obey and develop the ethical norms in professional and academic settings related to the disciplines included on the curriculum of English studies
K_K04 assess critical alue cultural heritage and cultural diversity as well as individual opinions ly one’s own knowledge and skills related to the studies
K_K06
Assessment criteria
End-of-semester exam (50 % of the final grade) and student's perfomance during the semester (participation in class discussions, written assignments on the Moodle platform - another 50% of the final grade)
Limit of absences: 3
Bibliography
Bruder, Helen. William Blake and the Daughters of Albion. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press LTD, 1997.
Damon, S. Foster. A Blake Dictionary: The Ideas and Symbols of W. Blake. London, 1995.
Eaves, Morris (ed). The Cambridge Companion to William Blake. Cambridge, 2003.
Goslee, Nancy Moore (1990). “Slavery and Sexual Character: Questioning the Master Trope in Blake's Visions of the Daughters of Albion.” ELH 57. 1, 101-128.
Linkin, Harrier Kramer “The Function of Dialogue in The Book of Thel.” Colby Quarterly 23.2 (June 1987): 66-76.
Łuczyńska-Hołdys, Małgorzata. “The Experience of Female Embodiment in William Blake’s Visions of the Daughters of Albion. ” Nordic Journal of English Studies, 19.1, 2020, pp. 1–27, https://njes-journal.com/articles/abstract/538/.
Łuczyńska-Hołdys, Małgorzata. “Life exhal’d in milky fondness” – Becoming a Mother in William Blake’s The Book of Thel.” Blake/an Illustrated Quarterly 46.3, 2013.
Mitchell, W.J.T. Blake's Composite Art: A Study in the Illuminated Poetry. Princeton, 1978.
B. Nesfield Cookson ‘Blake’s Symbolism’ W. Blake. The Poet of Universal Brotherhood. London, 1987.
Viscomi, Joseph. “The Evolution of The Marriage of Heaven and Hell [Part 1].” Huntington Library Quarterly
58.3-4 (1997): 281-344.
Williams, Nicholas. Palgrave Agvances in William Blake's Studies. Palgrave Macmilan, 2005.