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Mar 29, 2024
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ENGL 2200 - The Art of the Insult (LA-AS) Fall. 4 credits.
R. Kalas.
“Lily-livered, action-taking whoreson, glass-gazing, superserviceable, finical rogue…” The tirade leveled at Oswald in King Lear by the King’s honest counselor, Kent, shows just how artful an insult can be. This course will survey the poetry of the put-down from the ancient arts of rhetoric to the present day, looking at satires, invectives and epigrams, as well as more casual, but equally artful, forms such as flame wars, the dozens, and MC battles. Aristotle maintained that all poetic speech was either praise or blame. We’ll consider the role that literature plays in assigning moral responsibility. But we’ll also be asking if scurrility and playfulness can be purposeful in other ways.
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