This course will stare the inevitable in the eye, focusing on a wide range of reactions to death, such as memorialization, sublimation, abjection, terror, grief—particularly where mechanisms intersect with eros. What do we owe the dead? How do we pay tribute? We’ll look at a variety of cultural artifacts, including obituaries, photos, film, webcasts, poetry, memoirs, diaries, performance, sculpture, graves. One touchstone will be Bob Flanagan, for whom the trauma of cystic fibrosis opened up new realms of sexual expression. Year after year, Flanagan was the oldest living person with cystic fibrosis, and some have suggested that the intensity of Flanagan’s art practice is what kept him alive. We’ll consider a range of artists and writers whose work confronts death and terminal illness, and how death has affected the careers of various artists. We’ll look at AIDS-inspired art, recent as well as historical examples. We will pay particular attention to social media’s impact on private and group mourning. How has it redefined the divide between public and nonpublic figures? Does death on social media make everyone a bit famous? We’ll consider work that suggests a sort of sexiness to illness and death—as well as work that shocks us out of sentimentality. How does our collective mourning for diminishing environmental and social safety nets impact our personal mourning? Flexibility will be built into the class in order to respond to student interests and projects.

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