Laughter and Carnival as Symptoms of the Coen Brothers Films

2022/2023

Category 'Best Course for Broadening Horizons and Diversity of Knowledge and Skills'

Category 'Best Course for New Knowledge and Skills'

Type: Mago-Lego

Delivered by: School of Foreign Languages

When: 3, 4 module

Online hours: 20

Open to: everyone

Instructors: Ekaterina Vladimirovna Chernetsova

Language: English

ECTS credits: 6

Contact hours: 50

Full Syllabus

Abstract

The course offers to observe and analyze films by the Coen brothers from perspectives of such concepts as laughter and carnival. The idea of the carnivalesque, specific nature of the comic within the frames of carnivalization and forms of its linguistic expression is a lens through which the Coens’ films narratives can be discussed in terms of language and communication. Students will explore the relationships between comic and serious, and learn to distinguish between various forms of laughter in a narrative. The foundation for the analysis and comprehension of laughter and carnival will become Mikhail Bakhtin's carnival theory, elaborated in his book Rabelais and His World. It will serve to help to integrate the comic processes of the work with its larger thematic and artistic structures. Bakhtin used medieval carnival rituals, the feast of fools, and other festive ceremonies to explain the curious combination of seriousness and humor. Traditions of unofficial popular culture represented by the philosopher are indeed seen in cinematic discourse of the Coen brothers. The carnivalesque spirit of films like Fargo (as well as TV series of the same name), O Brother, Where Art Thou? Burn After Reading, Hail, Caesar! The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, The Tragedy of Macbeth and others provides a useful way of examining the world which connects the comic scenes to the serious themes. The ideas of Victor Turner, C.L Barber, Michael Bristol, Jacques Lacan, Jil Deleuze, Sigmund Freud and others will develop more viable theoretical ideas for the analyses offered to students.

Learning Objectives

To observe and analyze films by the Coen brothers from perspectives of such concepts as laughter and carnival
To discuss the idea of the carnivalesque, specific nature of the comic within the frames of carnivalization and forms of its linguistic expression
To introduce students to some of the basic ideas in cinema analysis that have a relationship with some of the concepts of linguistics and discourse analysis
To explore the relationships between comic and serious, and learn to distinguish between various forms of laughter

Expected Learning Outcomes

to learn to identify and measure the idea of the carnivalesque and apply it to literature, cinema and other discourse practices
to attain better understanding of cinematic discourse and to acquire basic skills of cinema analysis
to learn to distinguish between various forms of laughter on the basis of foundational texts considering the issues
to develop more viable ideas concerning discourses where laughter and the carnivalesque can be revealed
To develop more viable theoretical ideas of laughter psychology and philosophy

Course Contents

Theories of laughter
Carnivalesque laughter
Roots
Basics of carnivalesque culture
Laughter in Cinema
Laughter and carnivalesque in the Coen brothers films

Assessment Elements

Class attendance and active participation
Writing Portfolio
Essay (Exam)
Presentation
Online course

Interim Assessment

2022/2023 4th module
0.25 * Class attendance and active participation + 0.3 * Essay (Exam) + 0.15 * Writing Portfolio + 0.2 * Presentation + 0.1 * Online course

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

A history of Renaissance rhetoric, 1380-1620, Mack, P., 2013
A philosophy of cinematic art, Gaut, B., 2010
Boundas, C. V. (2006). Deleuze and Philosophy. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=165167
Cinematic sociology : social life in film, , 2013
De Lauretis, T. (2008). Freud’s Drive: Psychoanalysis, Literature and Film : Psychoanalysis, Literature and Film. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=266593
Domański, J. (2013). Remarks on the Medieval and Renaissance ‘Contempt of the World’ and ‘Human Misery’ (Lotario – Poggio Bracciolini – Erasmus of Rotterdam). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.2A42D67E
Film discourse interpretation : towards a new paradigm for multimodal film analysis, Wildfeuer, J., 2014
Murray, M. J. (2016). Jacques Lacan : A Critical Introduction. London: Pluto Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1109040
Stanivukovic, G. V. (2001). Ovid and the Renaissance Body. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=468363
Stiegler, B., & Barker, S. (2011). Technics and Time, 3 : Cinematic Time and the Question of Malaise. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1080141
Бахтин как философ : поступок, диалог, карнавал, Бонецкая, Н. К., 2022
История средневековых развлечений : от куртуазных увеселений до карнавалов и праздников дураков IX - XVII века, Даркевич, В., 2019
Книга М. М. Бахтина о Франсуа Рабле и ее значение для теории литературы, Попова, И. Л., 2009
Козинцев, Г. М. О режиссуре. О комическом, эксцентрическом и гротескном искусстве. Наш современник Вильям Шекспир : учебное пособие / Г. М. Козинцев. — 2-е изд., стер. — Санкт-Петербург : Планета музыки, 2019. — 604 с. — ISBN 978-5-8114-4173-0. — Текст : электронный // Лань : электронно-библиотечная система. — URL: https://e.lanbook.com/book/119606 (дата обращения: 00.00.0000). — Режим доступа: для авториз. пользователей.

Recommended Additional Bibliography

A history of philosophy. Vol.3: Late medieval and Renaissance philosophy, Copleston, F., 2003
Christopher Cairns. (2018). The Renaissance Theatre : Texts, Performance and Design. Routledge.
Cinematic sociology : social life in film, , 2010
Hopkins, L., & Steggle, M. (2006). Renaissance Literature and Culture. London: Continuum. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=837464
Laughter and ridicule : towards a social critique of humour, Billig, M., 2005
Liisa Steinby, & Tintti Klapuri. (2013). Bakhtin and His Others : (Inter)subjectivity, Chronotope, Dialogism. Anthem Press.
Sempere, J. P. (2014). The Influence of Mikhail Bakhtin on the Formation and Development of the Yale School of Deconstruction. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=772096
The filmmaker's eye : learning (and breaking) the rules of cinematic composition, Merkado, G., 2011
Лесков, Н.С. Смех и горе [Электронный ресурс] / Н.С. Лесков. - М.: Инфра-М, 2015. - 185 с. - Режим доступа http://znanium.com/catalog.php?bookinfo=527356 - Режим доступа: http://znanium.com/catalog/product/527356
Многоголосица культур : продолжение карнавала, Константинова, Н. С., 2015
Токарева, Г. А. У. Блейк: философия смеха и поэтика комического : монография / Г. А. Токарева. — 2-е изд.,стер. — Москва : ФЛИНТА, 2018. — 162 с. — ISBN 978-5-9765-3853-5. — Текст : электронный // Лань : электронно-библиотечная система. — URL: https://e.lanbook.com/book/113483 (дата обращения: 00.00.0000). — Режим доступа: для авториз. пользователей.

Course Syllabus