On Reserve:

WEEKLY SYLLABUS AND READINGS

June 3		Introduction
		Joan of Arc as Symbol
June 4	Readings	Article by Kelly deVries and Preface by Charles T. Wood in Fresh Verdicts.
		Welt, Bernard. “Mythomania”. Art Issues in OLR.
		Winston S. Churchill, “Joan of Arc” in OLR.
		Pierre Nora, “From Lieux de mémoire to Realms of Memory…” in OLR.
	Debates	Lawrence D. Kritzman, “Foreword” to Realms of Memory… in OLR.
June 5	Film	Joan of Arc (Fleming, dir., starring Bergman/Jose Ferrer. RKO, 1948)

Part 1 - Joan in Her Time

 How did a peasant girl from the fringes of France become the "youngest person of either sex to lead her nation's army before the age of nineteen," as Mark Twain tells us? How do we explain the trajectory of desires, ideas, and events that culminated in her military victory in Orléans and the crowning of her Dauphin as King Charles VII at Reims? Was Joan captured by her enemies with the complicity of her own comrades? Why was she brought to trial for religious rather than military crimes? Why did the trial take so long and why was she executed so precipitously? Did she die a virgin? In this section of the course we consider Joan's youth and family, Joan's silence and speech, and Joan's judges.

Part 2 - Receptions of Joan by her Contemporaries

 In the Nullification trial and the conversations that led up to it, we see the pressure on her contemporaries to forge images of Joan and images of France. The nullification trial documents themselves are extremely important sources for late medieval social history.

Part 3 - Later Receptions of Joan

 Poets, artists, dramatists, and historians never lost sight of Joan of Arc. In this section of the course, we consider her afterlife as an image of female heroism and hysteria, cunning and madness from the early modern period through the end of he nineteenth century.

Part 4 - Was Joan Inspired or Crazy?

 Joan claimed that she shaped her life, mission, and goals at the direction of her "heavenly voices" named as the archangel St. Michael, Saint Margaret, and Saint Catherine. Joan in her own day (and in ours?) embodied and symbolized profound religious faith. How has her faith been represented, admitted, and denied? Here we interrogate the figure of Joan and the embarrassment of belief.

Course Requirements and Design:

Assignments:

Four in-class debates/presentations (20% each); mid-term examination (10%) and a final exam or web-based project (10%). For that project, students registered in history must choose a historical topic; in literature, a literary topic; in CF, a comparative topic. All web topics must be chosen in consultation with me and all topics must be approved by or before June 15.

The major part of the semester concentrates on pre-20th century (pre-canonization) images of Joan particularly as she appears in historical records, but also in poetry, drama, and the visual arts. In general, we’ll trace the shift from the historical record to early modern and Enlightenment views of Joan as harlot or medieval zealot through to the nineteenth century revisioning of Joan as patriot and pucelle [maid]. The last part of the course considers various constructions of Joan in the twentieth century, including important dramatic versions of Joan as constructed by Shaw, Brecht, and Anouilh.

The web project must focus on an additional version of Joan from the historical or literary records. Even though it is now somewhat out-of-date, Nadia Margolis’ bibliography (on reserve) refers to a wealth of historical and literary treatments of Joan. Begin studying Margolis soon to locate a text (or texts) of interest to you; remember that you may have to order materials through Interlibrary Loan, which can take several weeks. There are other possible “texts” as well, e.g., Joan in popular culture, etc., or topical approaches to Joan (e.g., modern medical studies of Joan’s voices). Margolis does not include music or the visual arts in her bibliography of Joan, and both these media have interesting examples that you might wish to consider and/or catalogue. SMU’s Hamon Library is a terrific resource in this vein.

Each student is responsible for co-organizing and arguing in-class debates, in addition to making brief topical presentations. No exceptions will be made to the rule that exams will be offered only on the date scheduled; if for any reason you cannot take the exams at listed times, drop the course now. It is assumed and required that you will attend and participate in all class sessions. Plagiarism or other violations of the SMU Honor Code result in automatic failure; if you are uncertain what constitutes plagiarism, consult your student handbook or Criteria. And remember that quizzes are possible; if they become necessary, you’ll know why and who to blame.

Attendance at all classes is mandatory. A single absence constitutes dropping the course.