RLT2210 - Starring God: Religion, myth and film

Leader(s): Dr Michael Fagenblat

Offered

Not offered in 2009

Synopsis

This unit employs film in order to explore the way biblical and mythic ideas are expressed in secular and post-secular culture. It aims to provide students with literacy in key religious texts in order to enable them to appreciate and analyse their cinematic interpretations. While most weeks involve viewing a movie, the focus will not be on cinema studies but on the meaning and modern transformations of biblical and mythic ideas. Themes to be explored include: biblical narratives of redemption; the return of gnostic mythology; the role of images in religion; the dynamics of allegory; visions of utopia and dystopia; the structure of religious narratives in relation to cinematic narrative.

Objectives

Upon completion of the unit students will be expected:

1. to have gained familiarity with some fundamental biblical and mythological narratives;
2. to understand the ways in which biblical and related narratives inform modern and secular culture;
3. to appreciate the historical process of secularization and contemporary accounts of the move to a post-secular period;
4. to be able to analyse the dynamics of allegory as a mode of cultural transmission and transformation;
5. to understand the relation between religious ideas and visual representation; and
6. to be able to understand, discuss and analyse designated films in the light of the theoretical and historical framework of the course.

Assessment

Film commentary (1000 words): 25%; Long essay (2500 words): 40%; Test (1 hour) 1000 words: 25%; Tutorial: 10%.

Contact hours

1 one hour lecture followed by a two-three hour screening of a film plus 1 one hour tutorial per week

Prohibitions

RLT3210