Literature of Joy-is Good

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course interrogates the concept of joy through literature and uses joy as a lens through which to read literature. We will explore joy as an experience, a philosophical concept, and a literary genre from a variety of perspectives and traditions by engaging with texts about joy and joyful texts (texts that perform joy). These perspectives will include the Catholic tradition, other religious/spiritual traditions, and various social theories, including queer and crip theory. Working primarily with non-fiction prose and poetry texts, we will bring diverse traditions and perspectives into conversation with one another through the concept of joy. Examining texts ranging from the writings of Julian of Norwich to the work of contemporary poets like Douglas Kearney and Mary Oliver, we will explore questions such as, What is joy? How has it been conceptualized in various religious, philosophical, and literary traditions? Is joy inherently spiritual or ethical? What is joy’s relationship to suffering? To hope and faith? What would a literature of joy look like? We will pursue these questions thematically, moving through units on different types or manifestations of joy in literature such as “Joy and Nature,” “Joy and Spirituality,” "Poetics of Joy," and “Queer/Crip Joy.”