Mediterranean Fictions: On Debts, Crises, and the Ends of Europe

Sun-drenched, seductive, and timeless, the Mediterranean is an appealing location from which to ponder Europe’s debt to this cradle of western civilization. Recently, the region’s economic debt crisis has crystallized thoughts that, beginning here, a peaceful, unified Europe will come undone or be rehabilitated. The word ‘crisis’ itself hinges on a making a crucial decision, often in marking the turning point of a disease. This course examines representations of this moment through literature and film—but also in history, anthropology, journalism, and art—and in the context of other pivotal twentieth-century Mediterranean texts that marked, and anticipated, seismic shifts on the continent.