Department of English

This seminar surveys the ways in which public events have been studied, covering a range from singular occasions such as protests or memorials to regularly recurring fairs, conventions, historic reenactments, parades, etc. We will begin with examining ritual and seek to differentiate sacred and profane modes and experiences of display. Public events create and sustain a particularly volatile public sphere within which the confluence of politics and market are at once visible and veiled. Drawing on European, American, and postcolonial contexts, the course will place special emphasis on the interrelationship of public display and the state, covering a time span from the 18th century to the present.