From Hermes to Borat, introductory-level English class studies 'tricksters'

As English professor Joan Pong Linton speaks on Homeric hymns, students in L142: Introduction to the Writing and Study of Literature eagerly answer the questions posed to them in the discussion.\nBoth Linton and her students share the same interest in "Trickster Narratives, Trickster Narrators," which is the literary topic of one of this year's sections.\nLike Cash, many freshmen take L142 as part of an alternative to English W131: Elementary Composition, the class used by many students to fulfill the University's composition requirement. Linton said that in her class, students have a chance to practice their critical reading and writing skills while learning about the history of literary "tricksters."\n"Having something interesting to write about makes a big difference in one's motivation to learn," Linton said.\nStudents agree. The class is full with 96 students.\nIn literature, a trickster is a character that deceives other characters in a story. Examples of traditional tricksters in literature are Hermes in Greek lore, the coyote in American Indian tradition and the monkey in Chinese literary works.\n"What draws me to all these tricksters is that their transgressions aren't simply being bad for badness' sake," Linton said in an e-mail interview. "Tricksters almost always operate to challenge some rule of the social games that privilege some while excluding others for no justifiable reason, except that it's been in place for so long people accept it as the way things are."\nLinton said her interest in tricksters began as a child.\n"The monkey was everywhere: in bedtime stories, in animation, in literary works, in the Chinese cultural imagination," Linton said.\nTricksters transcend historical literature, and they still play an important role in pop culture today.\nLinton's class addresses both the past and present existence of tricksters in their particular societies.\n"We debated in class whether or not Sacha Baron Cohen was a modern-day trickster or just another buffoon," Linton said of the star of "Da Ali G Show" and the 2006 movie "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan."\n"They applied what they had learned about tricksters up till then to Cohen's many characters and scenes. There were strong claims on both sides in discussion sections, and while quite a few students judged him a trickster, others thought he fell short."\nStudents also analyze a "Batman" cartoon and discuss whether the Dark Knight is a trickster.\n"The role (a) trickster plays in pop culture has everything to do with whether its transgressions in some ways speaks to the conditions of our social and political existence," Linton said.\nStudents say the class is an interesting contrast to the usual freshman-level English courses.\n"The stuff we read in this class is different. I have never read anything about tricksters, but I have seen tricksters on television and in movies," said freshman Zain Jafri. "Most freshmen take W131, but I prefer reading to writing, especially when I am learning about something interesting"