Can a "sick" society produce "healthy" literature?

Can a sick society produce healthy literature? -- That is the question. If you have responses or further questions and would like to share with us, please post them in comments. Here's one that I find really thought-provoking:


"In my perception, it depends upon the modernity, which is
various from different ages and societies. I have no exact definition
about what is 'sick' or 'healthy', but if we set up a premise here
that the function of literature is to reflect the modernity of its society
the problems of the "sick" society will be presented vividly through
literature. The premise here regards literature as a doctor to society,
and the poets or authors take up some social responsibilities for the people,
not just create their masterpieces because of "art for art's sake".

In my opinion, 'healthy' doesn't stand for 'morality' or 'doctrine' but 'something to benefit society'... "

Holy Grail variations

King Arthur and the Holy Grail



synopsis of Parsifal



Wagner, Parsifal, Prelude



Monty Python & the Holy Grail, "The Knight Who Said Ni"



"three questions"

T. S. Eliot clips

("The Hollow Man" read by Marlon Brando as Kurtz, from "Apocalypse Now")
( text & explications of "The Hollow Man")

T.S. Eliot reads "The Waste Land"



(Cats, based on Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats")



Memory

Auden & America

A retrospective look at Auden and his time:
http://www.nysun.com/article/72350


"Even those leaden meditations on "nature and history" were impishly transformed in his verse. In "Archaeology," the last poem Auden wrote, in August 1973, a month before his death, he stated:

From Archaeology
one moral, at least, may be drawn,
to wit, that all

our school text-books lie.
What they call History
is nothing to vaunt of,

being made, as it is,
by the criminal in us:
goodness is timeless.?

Amis and Islam

Recent controversies over Amis' comments on Islam--
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/books/review/Donadio-t.html

"In the press, Amis has been accused of lazy thinking and Muslim-bashing. The left-leaning Guardian ran a prominent feature, “Martin Amis and the New Racism,” with an unflattering illustration. Things have only heated up since January, with the British publication of 'The Second Plane,' Amis’s new book of essays, subtitled 'September 11: Terror and Boredom.' (The book, which received fairly tepid reviews in England, will appear in the United States in April.)"

The Second Coming

Study Guide & Worksheets

ps-- Blackboard is not working. If you see this, please send your group response papers to me by email. Thanx. :-)

Sociological Approach to Pop Songs

If Joyce and the music of the "northern race" depress you, check this out. It is hilarious!!

http://sociologicalimages.blogspot.com/