Saturday, March 17, 2012

Robert Alter on the Story of David

From 92Y

The story of David, which runs from the middle of 1 Samuel to the end of the second chapter of 1 Kings, is one of the most complex and subtle narratives in all of ancient literature and also one of the most searching representations in the Western tradition of man as a political animal.




First Session: Thu, Mar 29, 2012, 6 pm - 9 pm
Venue: Classroom
Location: Lexington Avenue at 92nd St
Class Code: CW12T71026
Sessions: 1


Instructor: Robert AlterIn the class, we do close readings of a series of crucial passages in this story, focusing on how the formal resources of narrative art (deployment of dialogue, shifts in narrative point of view, the representation of thought and feeling) are used to delineate character, motive and political circumstance. Students are asked to bring to class The David Story: A Translation with Commentary by Robert Alter (W. W. Norton, paperback).