Literature and Mental Health

This course explores the relationship between literature and mental health. We will read literary texts that introduce students to psychical life, inviting them to think about questions such as: how is the process of reading literature vital to mental health? How do representations of mental health shift across time and genre? What is the role of narrative in building our tolerance for a life of deferral, ambiguity, frustration, and loss? Assigned texts will range from drama, the essay (theoretical, literary, and personal), as well as long and short fiction. The course will provide language to help students think about the relationship between inner life and external conditions. We will contemplate what both madness and its antithesis may be. Students will also have the opportunity to process these ideas through written assignments. The goal for course participants would be to find enjoyment in the collective journey of slow and difficult thinking.

Like all postsecondary English courses, the reading load is heavier than a high school English reading load, so part of the training will be to develop a capacity to read and process higher volumes of texts. Students will learn in detail the requirements of a postsecondary English essay, including vocabulary that will facilitate robust literary analyses. Much of the course will be devoted to the development of these skills. Because we will be reading narratives around mental health, texts may include some disturbing or upsetting content.