1574.23 - Moby Dick in a philosophical light (BA)


Course number
1574.23
Title
Moby Dick in a philosophical light (BA)
ECTS
10
Prerequisites
Students must have completed the required core component of the BA in Faroese. This course can also be taken as an individual course with other prerequisites (please refer to the academic programme in force).
Purpose
The purpose is to read and discuss the novel Moby Dick from a literary and philosophical perspective.
Content
The novel Moby Dick by the American author Melville is considered to be one of the most important novels of the 19th century. Based on historical events, the book tackles a plethora of phenomena and issues. Among these are: Western philosophy, the Bible, Shakespeare, life at sea, industrial whale hunting, societal critique, view of nature, etc. The book has accurately been compared to a prism with many facets. During the course, the novel Moby Dick will be placed in a literary and philosophical context and light will be shed on some of the central questions that the novel deals with, based on treatments of writers and philosophers.
Learning and teaching approaches
Presentations by the lecturer and students as well as discussions.
Learning outcomes
When the course is over, the students are able to: • read and discuss literature and philosophical texts critically and analytically • work with literary and philosophical ideas and definitions • analyze the connections between literature and philosophy • give an outline of the history of philosophy
Assessment method
Home assignment (2 weeks) on a given subject.
Examination
External
Marking scale
7-
Bibliography
Changes to the following list may occur: Melville, Herman: Moby Dick, 1851 Philbrick, Nathaniel: In the Heart of the Sea, 2000 Philbrick, Nathaniel: Why read Moby-Dick, 2011 Delbanco, Andrew: Melville. His World and Work, 2005 Greer, Mary Zettelman: Moby-Dick. Charting the Depts: A Navigational Tool for Readers of Herman Melville´s Masterpiece, 2019 Anderson, Mark: Moby-Dick as Philosophy: Plato – Melville – Nietzsche, 2015 Jensen, Carl Jóhan: Terningar, søgur av tilvild, 2019
Contact
Jógvan Dalbø Hansen