Understanding Literature and Life: Drama, Poetry and Narrative

By: Arnold Weinstein, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Arnold Weinstein

The major texts of Western culture are a gateway to wisdom that can widen your views on self and society in enduring ways. The extraordinary body of literature given us by writers from antiquity to the present day, as Professor Weinstein notes, "is potent stuff, serving not only as transcription of history but also as a verbal Pandora's box, capable of shedding light on those transactions which remain in the dark for many of us: love, death, fear, desire. We are talking about more than artful language; we are talking about the life of the past and the life of the world."

It is truly a monumental legacy. And now you can examine its most important works - whether drama, poetry, or narrative - in this series of 64 penetrating lectures that reveal astonishing common ground. You'll see how this award-winning teacher uses several different analytical perspectives, including Feminism, Marxism, Freudianism, Deconstruction, Postmodernism, and New Historicism, to give us fresh insight into persisting human themes like rites of passage; the "fit" or "misfit" between self and society; the creation of an identity; and the play, weight, and presence of the past in understanding our present.

You learn how drama makes visible the conflicts and wars of culture in ways other forms cannot manage. How poetry can go to the heart of human existence with a purity and power akin to surgery, bidding us to challenge and change the way we usually do business. And how narrative can tell life stories in ways that enable a possession of that life that is hardly imaginable any other way.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©1995 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)1995 The Great Courses

Great and Zooming with info

This first part of these lectures is amazing. The delivery is astoundingly good. Did here and stood firm principles of psychoanalysis as well as literary analysis or great.

A masterful presentation on a great set of subjects con Literature

This set of lectures is wonderfully conceived , developed and delivered .... it is a important experience for one to have ... one gains insight and opportunity for introspection on so many levels .. regarding written language and narrative

Highly recommended!

The excellent narration makes this work highly relatable even if you’re not a drama or literature buff. Professor Weinstein the works reviewed in this series to life with his humour and wisdoms; which has the effect of making you feel like part of an audience watching a live performance of the plays being described. Quite the journey!

Yes

Couldn't reccomend this more! This course deepened my pleasure of familiar texts and tempted me to approach some unfamiar works.

Too Much Throat-Clearing, Etc.

The information was fantastic. But I finally had to quit at Dickens, and may not learn about the rest of the novels. The reason? As another reviewer (and maybe more than one) said, Dr. Weinstein's throat clearing, coughing, and other noises were very distracting. You'd think someone might have noticed this early on (I mean, it is 32 hours plus) and done something about it. Too bad Robert Greenburg couldn't have done these; he is so entertaining.