Representations of Evil in Western Literature

Representations of Evil in Western Literature

Förkunskapskrav

Innehåll

This course explores representations of the problem of evil in western literature across a wide range of historical periods and literary forms—poetry, short story, novel, and drama. Particular attention is given to the emergence of a Christian worldview in Europe: the changes it brought to cultural understandings of evil, the challenges to those cultural understandings presented by atheism in the last 300 years, and the dilemma concerning contemporary perceptions of evil we now face.

Utbildningsmål

As a result of successfully completing this course, the student should be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding  
–account for the differences in how secular, pagan, and Christian worldviews explain the problem of evil
–understand why and how the Christian worldview changed western narratives of evil
–be familiar with some of the key cultural and historical events that influenced the development of western thought about evil
–account for the relevance of a strong understanding of the problem of evil in discussions of contemporary issues.

Skills and Abilities
–present some of the main explanations of evil as represented in western literature
–analyze literary representations of evil from the perspective of secular and Christian worldviews
–describe the historical contexts surrounding significant changes in western understandings of the problem of evil
–present the unique contributions of Christianity in the development of western definitions of evil
–critique and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of a literary work’s representation of evil in a significant paper
–explain the relevance of cultural narratives of the problem of evil for addressing contemporary issues.

Assessment and Approach
–describe the cultural role and influence of literary fiction
–identify how the problem of evil challenges a Christian worldview
–analyze how the problem of evil is represented in selected literary texts
–evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of literary explanations of the problem of evil
–summarize how changes in western perceptions of evil are reflected in literature
–write a well-structured and well-argued paper analysing the problem of evil in a text.