The Close Reading

Dear Students,

This is a reminder that our class will meet on the first floor of Newman Library, Room 135, so that you may continue your research on the “male quest” paper. Please note:

1. Be prepared for a brief in-class writing assignment on the first two Chrétien de Troyes “Perceval” readings.

2. Only those students whose thesis paragraphs I have approved, and who have completed a précis for one of our four texts, will be able to begin their library research immediately. Any student who has not completed these assignments must have them in double-spaced typewritten form for approval on Tuesday.

3. Students who are rewriting their previous paper should bring a completed draft to class today, as these papers are due on October 30th. Remember to also bring the paper on which I made corrections. Research papers which receive a “Rewrite” grade must be submitted along with the rewritten paper so that I may gauge your improvement. If you received a “Rewrite” grade, I strongly suggest that you make an appointment at the Writing Center before submitting your final rewrite. A Writing Center tutor can assist in your final edit of the paper, providing advice on sentence structure, punctuation, formatting, etc.

Dear Students,

It is possible to access these assigned readings electronically from our library’s website. I hope this URL will get you to the book: https://libsearch-cuny-edu.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/F/9HQ2P62ABSC9SCFQVK6P1AKNTCCDYGD3PNABDI2TJXQFBF522M-22018?func=full-set-set&set_number=027607&set_entry=000003&format=999. If not, make sure you access the translation we are using for our class, as there are several choices: de Troyes, Chrétien. Perceval: The Story of the Grail. translated by Burton Raffel. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 1999.

The first two readings are also on this blog. The last two, which we will discuss in class on 10/28 and 10/30 are as follows: Lines 2912-3383, which are in the portion of the epic poem where Perceval leaves Blanche Fleur and meets the Fisher King, and Lines 6300-6420, which take place on Good Friday, a Christian holy day that, as is apparent in the reading, is a day of mourning and of cleansing of the soul. It is the day in the Christian calendar that marks the crucifixion of Christ. Just before the latter reading begins, there is a disturbing instance of anti-Semitism expressed by a passerby; Raffel’s footnote calls attention to the unfortunate fact of Medieval history it reflects. Should you be interested in this subject, an excellent scholarly investigation is Colum Hourihane’s Pontius Pilate, Anti-Semitism and the Passion in Medieval Art (Princeton University Press, 2009).

Henri Matisse’s “The Fall of Icarus” (1943)

Continuing our class’s discussion of the male quest for identity in myth and literature, Michaela Mazur considers Jean Lang’s version of the myth, tying it to Henri Matisse’s “The Fall of Icarus” (1943).

Since the versions of Icarus myth vary, the morals of the myth differ from story to story. But regardless of the interpretation, there remains a constant theme: A boy will be stagnate in childhood, unless he is brave enough to fight like an adult. This leap into manhood must be heroic, for that is what will separate him as a warrior, and differentiate him from more cowardly men.

In Jean Lang’s version of “Icarus,” in The Book of Myths (Gutenberg e-book, September 2007), the author places great emphasis on a boy fulfilling his father’s aspirations. An implicit part of manhood is absolute independence, yet there is one thing that will always take a grown man back to his young roots: his parents. When analyzing iconic myths such as Icarus, a distinct conclusion can be drawn; part of a man’s purpose is to make his family proud. In Lang’s interpretation, she clearly articulates how Icarus’ father sees so much of himself in his son—only Icarus has an opportunity that he, himself, did not. Specifically, she wrote, “disappointment and unsatisfied longing ever came with his waking hours. Now all that had come to an end, and Dædalus was glad and proud as well to watch his son’s joy and his fearless daring” (185). Icarus, as all other boys, will not be independent of their father’s expectations as they journey into manhood.

The talented Henry Matisse (1869-1954), created a cut-out of great irony in his “The Fall of Icarus” (1943). The artwork is a depiction of Icarus’s last moments on earth, as he plunges from the sky, and to his death. As Icarus falls, he descends into a state of bitter reality; he is not invincible, and he has been defeated by something stronger. Therefore, it is ironic that Matisse’s cut-out shows the complete opposite. How could Icarus’s heart be so vibrant, if it will soon cease to have a beat? The answer is that Icarus is actually not dying. He is not mourning his loss, because he is celebrating his freedom. The scene that Matisse crafted is of Icarus’s rebirth. As he falls, he is being born into the existence of a man. Icarus is not dying. In fact, he has never been so alive!

Source: Grimm, Jacob, and Wilhelm Grimm. Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales. New York City: Fall River Press, 2012.

“The Handless Maiden,” or “Silverhands,” is a fairy tale that immediately starts off in tragedy. In the most common variation of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale (#31), a man makes a deal with a demon. In exchange for immense wealth, he gives his daughter to the devil. The child is exceptionally pure and has kept herself so innocent and good that the only way for the devil to obtain her is by telling the father to chop off her clean hands. She cries on them, and her tears purify her, causing the devil to give up in “getting the better of her.” (It’s unclear whether he wants her soul or her body, but it can be interpreted as both). The girl becomes despondent and begins to wander. During these wanderings, she comes across the garden of a king, and he sees her, falls in love and eventually marries her. He also makes her a pair of silver hands.

In due time, the girl, now a queen, gives birth to a son, this while the king is away. The devil, who still wants to somehow gain power over her, changes a letter from the king to say that the queen gave birth to a monster and that both she and her son should be executed, and her heart taken as proof. The servants despair at this order and kill a pig for its heart (“Snow White,” anyone?) while the queen flees into the forest with her son. Many years pass and the king, having discovered that the letters had been tampered with, continues to search for his missing wife. He eventually finds the queen and his son—and, she has regained her hands. She claims that they were given to her by God, and brings out the silver prosthetics to show that she is telling the truth in regards to her identity.

Overall, this fairy tale is distinguished by its uniqueness. In most fairy tales involving pretty girls, the greatest amount of harm inflicted on them is either a pinprick or a poisoned apple that still leaves the girl physically intact. Silverhands instead suffers a violent amputation at the beginning of the story. In his pursuit of money and power, her father disgustingly sacrifices her in a similar fashion to Iphigenia, who is offered to the goddess Artemis by her father Agamemnon. Iphigenia ensures his safe passage so that he can participate in the Trojan War. In the act of injuring Silverhands, the father’s victory is hollow and ultimately useless, and he even callously goes so far as to state that he will continue to take care of her just because he had “by means of thee received such great wealth.” Continue reading “Annabelle (and the Brothers Grimm) on the Quest of ‘The Handless Maiden’”

“For since it has always been on myths that the moral orders of societies have been founded, the myths canonized as religion and since the impact of science on myths results—apparently inevitably—in moral disequilibration, we must now ask whether it is not possible to arrive scientifically at such an understanding of the life-supporting nature of myths that, in criticizing their archaic features, we do not misrepresent and disqualify their necessity—throwing out, so to say, the baby (whole generations of babies) with the bath” (11-12).  Joseph Campbell, Myths to Live By

From Ayman Abdel-Naby, some thoughts on an aphorism which may or not be the exact words of God or the prophet, but which nevertheless informs Muslims across the Arab world. (It is inspired by our reading of Joseph Campbell).

The Hadiths are a collection of traditional aphorisms of the prophet Muhammad that, with accounts of his daily practice (the Sunna), constitute the major source of guidance for Muslims apart from the Koran. There are also da’if (“weak”) hadiths, which cannot be proven and most of the time turn out to be false and not the actual words of the Prophet Muhammed.

A popular da’if hadith that many Muslims around the world still go by is: “Seek knowledge even if you have to go as far as China.” “China” is not meant literally; it is a country far from Arab lands. “Knowledge” refers to both spiritual knowledge and scholarly knowledge (and finding a balance between both). Men and women are encouraged to seek knowledge because the more they acquire, the more they know about the religion and why God made certain things permissible while other things are forbidden.

So this hadith tells Muslims to seek knowledge from afar, away from their native countries, but some people have interpreted it differently. Some take this hadith to mean that God said all Muslims should acquire this knowledge by any means necessary, even if the means are corrupt, but that actually goes against the religion’s principles.

Another perspective that is reflected in this weak hadith is the idea of knowledge being in front of your eyes. The people who interpreted this incorrectly thought it was necessary to travel and leave their native land just to gain knowledge. They disregarded the fact that there is knowledge to acquire from where you originated. Of course, it is a necessary step to seek knowledge outside the box, but you have to make sure that you don’t forget that the society that you inhabit is rich with knowledge that you can also absorb.

Dear Students,

This is the second in our series of readings from de Troyes’s epic poem (lines 1548-1698). It involves Gornemont’s training of Perceval in the ways of knighthood and knight errantry.  Perceval 2002.

Dear Students,

You will note in this reading (lines 528-632) of Chretien de Troyes’s epic poem that Perceval’s mother refers to Christ being killed by the Jews. It was a common belief in the Middle Ages, and persists in some quarters to this day, that Christ’s fellow Jews killed him, but of course it was the Roman authorities, namely Pontius Pilate, who tried and convicted him. It is not uncommon when reading old or ancient texts that we come across beliefs that we now consider racist or misogynistic, and I trust none of you will take offense at this instance. This reading is one of four which I hope to post by Monday. Perceval001