RELI 235: Religion and Literature

RELI 235-003: Religion and Literature
(Spring 2018)

03:00 PM to 04:15 PM TR

Planetary Hall 122

Section Information for Spring 2018

Sequential art (i.e., comic books, graphic novels, etc.) has always struggled to be taken seriously as a legitimate literary form, from the inception of the medium in the 1930s even up to the so-called “British Invasion” of the industry in the 1980s, which produced such works as Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, Grant Morrison’s Animal Man, and the 1986 series Watchmen, which was included in Time’s 2005 list of the “All-Time 100 Greatest Novels.” But with comic book movies dominating the box office, it is obvious that the comic book medium is dominating the cultural imagination with some scholars even referring to superheroes as the “new mythology,” becoming for the modern world what the Greek gods were to the ancient world. And graphic novels are not all about superheroes. Stories like Preacher, From Hell, and the Invisibles feature complex stories and character development while touching on various religious themes.

This class will explore the relationship between religion and the sequential art, the influence of religion on this medium, and how graphic novels and comic books expresses major religious themes such as death and immortality, divine will and justice, suffering and human destiny, and religion and state.

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Course Information from the University Catalog

Credits: 3

Explores the relationship between religion and literature in different times and cultures, the influence of religion on literary works, and how literature expresses major religious themes such as death and immortality, divine will and justice, suffering and human destiny, and religion and state. Limited to three attempts.
Mason Core: Literature
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.

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