Humanities II

I started the class by discussing the significance of metanarration and how through this theory much is explained today. We each have multiple roles that we play which are defined by the various narratives we use to guide our life. These narratives come into conflict with one another and we resolve these conflicts by resorting to a higher level of abstraction in a metanarrative. The highest of these metanarratives (variously called Grande Narratives, religions, Weltanschauungen are what we are studying to contrast how art is produced within a particular metanarrative, and even how art might define such a narrative. The topics for the term paper are various theories of art (which we can select from the texts for the course) and each of those represent a particular metanarrative. Selecting the theory that most interests you and explaining your interpretation of that theory, and then using art to show how the theory is used in analysis of art - either to produce art or criticize it, is the goal of the term paper.