English 220 | Department of English & Comparative Literature | SDSU

Psychedelic Mirrors
Sex, Drugs, & Rock'n'Roll in
Literature, Art, Film, & the Web
Dr. William Nericcio (with Dr. Eric Smigel)
 
sychedelic--at once the word conjures images of the Beatles getting high on their Magic Mystery Tour, Jim Morrison tripping out on some mad combination of booze, narcotics, poetry and sex, or Andy Warhol, the mad eccentric artist, dropping Adderal like candy and manufacturing paintings at his infamous Factory.

But before we get carried away with all that, it behooves us to consider the root of the concept as the psychedelic predates the wild times of the 1960s. The DNA of the term psychedlic comes from the Greek word Psyche--or as the Oxford English Dictionary has it:

PSYCHE: a borrowing from Greek. Etymons: Greek ψυχή, Latin Psyche. < ancient Greek ψυχή breath, life (identified with or indicated by the breath), the animating principle in man and other living beings, the source of all vital activities, rational or irrational, the soul or spirit (as distinct from its material vehicle, the body, σῶμα ).
{click here for an alternative source}

Equally important, Psyche was a greek goddess of the Soul--oft-times paired with Eros (known by the Romans, and us, as Cupid).


Fueled by these two distinct yet overlapping word origins, our class, inspired by both Psyche and the Psychedelic, will move back and forth though the centuries exploring manifestations and metamorphoses of the human psyche in literature, film, art, photography, and the web.  We will find that the concept of the psychedelic appears throughout literary and cinematic history, and that the "animating principle in man" never ceases to be a source of inspiration for writers and artists alike as they mirror the twisted contours of their consciousness in their remarkable written and drawn artifacts. 

The reading list is still in flux but will likely include Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions, Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper," Richard Appignanesi and Oscar Zarate's new Hysteria book in the "Graphic Freud" series, Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, Junichiro Tanizaki's The Key, and more to be determined. Film and television too will fill our semester as we sample the dazzling cinematic hallucinations of Michelangelo Antonioni (Blow-Up), Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad), Orson Welles (Touch of Evil), and Matthew Weiner (Mad Men).

Please do note that our special section of Engl 220: Introduction to Literature is part of the SDSU Arts Alive Program--our class of 300 students will meet together several times during the semester with the rowdy 200 students in a General Education music course. For this experimental course, I am partnering with Prof. Eric Smigel of the School of Music & Dance who will be delivering a concurrent section of MUSIC 351: Psychedelic Rock of the 1960s that focuses on countercultural American music & culture. Five times during the semester, the two classes will fuse and become one so students enrolled in both courses will have an opportunity to engage the material from a broader perspective. In other words, students in Prof. Smigel’s music class will explore ideas, theories, images, and more typically reserved for literary studies, while students in Prof. Nericcio’s English class will develop critical/cultural listening skills associated with a music course.

During the four combined meetings (September 8, September 29,  November 3, and, in an evening class, on Wednesday, November 30) that will take place in the Don Powell Theatre on the SDSU campus, students will be responsible for the same reading and listening assignments. These have been specifically curated to highlight a common themes focused countercultural arts. The fourth joint meeting (December 8), which will take place in Montezuma Hall in the SDSU Student Center, will be a large-scale event open to the entire university community. Modeled after the famous “acid tests” of the 1960s, this culminating event will feature a multimedia collage of colored lights, film projections, poetry readings, and a live performance by a psychedelic rock band.

Before you go anywhere, be sure to check out all the components associated with this class including your Tumblr site, Facebook page, Instagram hashtag, Psychedelic Rules, Pinterest site, and, perhaps most importantly, your day to day calendar.  Hang onto your hats, you are in for a trippy ride!

BOOKS
{...in no meaningful order}


A note about purchasing books in our special, outrageous, and experimental introduction to literature class... You might be asking yourself, "should I go ebook or old school paper-book?"  For the purposes of this section of English 220, you MUST 'go old school,' 'old gangster,' and buy or rent the real thing: paper, ink, glue, and all. And, though i don't care WHERE you purchase/rent this medieval prehistoric paper artifact, make sure it is the edition they carry in the Aztec campus bookstore!

Why?

So that we will all be on the same page during discussions, in-class writing assignments, quizzes, etc.  Another thing: I negotiated some cheaper prices on books and these sale prices may only be available at our campus bookstore (so if you go and shop online for all your books, you may lose out on a deal).

You may have heard we are living through the age of the 'Death of the Book.' Don't buy the hype. Just as a Biology 101 professor might scoff at you if you walked into an anatomy lab wanting to use your 'scalpel app', or an archeology prof on a dig would faint if you wanted to use your 'shovel app,' it's the same thing here. Literature is about books--paper, black ink, paste, etc.  As to whether you should rent or buy--keep in mind that literature books are NOT textbooks. They actually look good on your shelves and tell the world a lot about yourself--basically, they are an intellectual mirror of your tastes, range, and depth.

That said, it is YOUR call.

Book Purchasing Links

#psychedelicmirrors Books via Aztec Shops!

#psychedelicmirrors Books via Powells!

#psychedelicmirrors Books via Amazon!
Note this link works better via CHROME and FIREFOX browsers--kind of buggy on Safari!
FILMS/CINEMA
{Screened FREE in Class}

TOUCH OF EVIL
orson welles, director, screenwriter


BLOW-UP
michelangelo antonioni, director/screenwriter; julio cortázar, writer


SOMEWHERE
sophia coppola, director/screenwriter



#psychedelicmirrors is an Arts Alive SDSU project!

Mission: Arts Alive SDSU provides opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to engage in transformational arts interactions as part of an arts-rich, robust educational community on the campus of San Diego State University.

Goals:
· To broaden awareness of arts events and opportunities at SDSU
· To increase attendance at SDSUevents
· To expand academically informed making opportunities at SDSU
· To integrate arts events and arts practices into curriculum at SDSU

Overview: SDSU hosts more than 350 arts events annually. The project promotes the best and the brightest of existing arts offerings to students, faculty and staff. Called “signature events” these are the highest quality events from the arts schools. They are promoted through traditional marketing, appealing to students via social media, and most significantly, through Pop Up events.

#psychedelic mirrors is an SDSU ARTS ALIVE experimental organism