Seminar Autobiographical Stories of Conversion from Augustine to C.S Lewis

SYLLABUS April 15 and April 16, 2016 • Reflections on the concept of conversion on the base of different theories. • Introduction to Augustine (historical, cultural and religious context). • Introduction to The Confessions (structure, main themes, motifs and style). • Close reading of The Confessions, book 8: style and rhetoric, biblical references, symbols and figures, narrative structures, values. • Reception of the Confessions and their influence on subsequent stories of conversion. • Ziolkowski: how can a book change your life. Two examples: • Petrarch, The Ascent to Mont Ventoux (1336 ca). • Teresa of Avila, The Book of Her Life (1565 ca). READINGS: • William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Lectures 8 and 9. Lecture 10 is optional. • Ziolkowsky, Tolle, lege: Epiphanies of the Book. • Augustine, The Confessions, book 8. • Petrarch, The Ascent to Mont Ventoux, in Pilgrim Souls, pp. 399-407 • Teresa of Avila, The Book of her Life, in Pilgrim Souls, pp. 290-303. — Please read all the texts before the class. — April 22 and April 23, 2016 • Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve, Volupté (1834): the fine line between fiction and non-fiction. • Leo Tolstoj, A confession (1882): comparison with Augustine and William James´s reading. • Paul Claudel, My conversion (1913): a conversion in the cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris, the impact of ritual. • Simone Weil, Letter to a Priest (1942): spiritual and intellectual quest and mystical experience. • C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy (1955): Augustine as an anti-model? • Analysis of a sample of iconographic representations of Augustine´s conversion across time. • Conclusive reflections on conversion and its narration. READINGS: • Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve, Volupté: The Sensual Man, pp. vii-xi (introduction), 1-13, 149-150. • Leo Tolstoj, A confession, in Pilgrim Souls, pp. 48-64. • Paul Claudel, My conversion, in Pilgrim Souls, pp. 452-457. • Simone Weil, Letter to a Priest, in Pilgrim Souls, pp. 498-512. • C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy, in Pilgrim Souls, pp. 466-486. — Please read all the texts before the class. — N.B.: We will work on the English versions of the texts. However, if you find some of the readings difficult, please consider that you can find German versions of many of the suggested texts (for example Augustine and William James) in the University libraries. EVALUATION Students are asked to prepare a Hausarbeit . Students will not make oral presentations during the course, but they should read the assigned texts in advance, so as to be able to take an active part in the discussion in the classroom. The Hausarbeit will consist in the analysis of a narrative of conversion with the method learnt during the course. Students will therefore send their written work to the teacher after the end of the course . Further information will be provided in the classroom. Fakultät für Philosophie, Wissenschaftstheorie und Religionswissenschaft LMU München SoSe 2016 Dr. phil. Ponzo Jenny phil