Instr: Kölzer, Christian
Office: CRT 496; 229-4567
e-mail: TBA
Office hours: by arrangement
Course Information: MTWR; 12:00pm - 2:31pm; CRT 466 (7/21-8/16)
One could say that with his fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials Philip Pullman reveals himself as the 'Anti-Tolkien', turning the theistic world view inherent in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings upside down. In his secondary-world conception, the Serpent of the biblical story of Adam and Eve was right: 'God' is indeed a tyrant whose sole aim it is to keep mankind in metaphysical bondage. In this seminar, we will endeavour to have a closer look at the way Pullman sets up his secondary world and how he manages to fill the then vacant position of transcendent entity on whose existence the Ur-questions of man are grounded: Where do I come from? Where do I go? Why am I here?
