Drugs and Alcohol in Literature (LIT219)
School of Humanities and Social Sciences - Charles Sturt University
Semester 2 / 2011

Texts

y separately published work icon Candy Luke Davies , St Leonards : Allen and Unwin , 1997 Z253307 1997 single work novel (taught in 4 units) He met Candy during a lush Sydney summer. Gorgeous, sexy, free-spirited Candy. They fell in love fast, lots of laughter and lust, the days melting warmly into each other. He never planned to give her a habit. But she wanted a taste. And wasn't love, after all, about sharing lives? But when the money ran out, the craving remained, and the days ceased their luxurious stretch. But there was still love. Only now, it was a threesome. Heroin had its own demands, its own timetable, and thoughts of nabbing the next fix hurled them into each day. Then, when desperation set in, Candy would stop at nothing to secure a blast, as she and her love became hostage to the nightmarish world of addiction. (Source: Trove)
Howl!$!Ginsberg, Allen!$!City Lights Books, 1986!$!!$!
Writing On Drugs!$!Plant, Sadie!$!Faber and Faber, 2001!$!!$!
Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep!$!Dick, Philip K.!$!Orion Publishing, 1999!$!!$!
Confessions Of An English Opium Eater!$!De Quincey, Thomas!$!Penguin, 2003!$!!$!
The Moonstone!$!Collins, Wilkie!$!Oxford University Press, 1999!$!!$!
y separately published work icon Monkey Grip Helen Garner , Melbourne : McPhee Gribble , 1977 Z115661 1977 single work novel (taught in 12 units)

Set in inner suburban 1970s Melbourne, Monkey Grip describes the fluid relationships of a community of friends who are living and loving in new ways. Single parent Nora falls in love with Javo, a heroin addict, and together they try to make sense of their lives and the choices they have made.
The Doors of Perception!$!Huxley, Aldous!$!Vintage, 2008!$!!$!
The Naked Lunch!$!Burroughs, William S.!$!Harper Perennial, 1959!$!!$!
The Strange Case of Dr!$!Stevenson, Robert Louis!$!Jekyll and Mr!$!!$!
Euripides!$! Translated by Vellacott, Philip. The Bacchae and Other Plays. Penguin, 1973!$!!$!!$!

Degrees

Bachelor of Arts

Description

This subject introduces students to a range of fiction and poetry that alludes significantly to the use of drugs and alcohol. The set texts are chosen from the classical Greek, Romantic, Modernist and Contemporary periods. The subject places each work in its historical and social context, analysing the significance of drugs and alcohol as an on-going literary subject and questioning the validity of enduring Romantic concepts that link drug and alcohol use with literary creativity.

In addition to the texts below, the course includes the Jean Cocteau film 'Orphee' and poems by Baudelaire, Rimbaud and Verlaine.

Assessment

Two-part weekly journal (each worth 30%).

Essay (40%).

Other Details

Available by Distance Education only.

Offered in: 2009
Levels: Undergraduate
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