LITS6003 POST-STRUCTURALISMS AND POST-COLONIALISMS II
(FORMERLY E60C)
 

COURSE ARCHIVE

2007-2008

2006-2007

2005-2006

2004-2005

2003-2004

2002-2003

2001-2002

2000-2001

1999-2000

1998-1999

Annual Class Photos

This course shares a website with its undergraduate equivalent
LITS3304 Post-Structuralisms and Post-colonialisms.

THUMBNAIL DESCRIPTION

An introduction to several schools of Continental philosophy and critical theory that may be grouped under the rubric 'Post-Structuralism.'  These will be chosen from Dialogism, Foucauldian and Deleuzean Thought, and Structuralist Marxism.  We will also study Feminist, Post-colonial and African American thinkers who have engaged with these schools.

DETAILLED DESCRIPTION

In this course, we will explore several schools of Continental philosophy and critical theory sometimes termed 'Postmodernist' or, more accurately, 'Post-Structuralist.'  They are called this because they are all informed by and, in some cases, expand upon Saussure's Structuralist philosophy of language (sometimes called 'semiotics'), that is, his theory of the way in which meaning is produced in human discourse.  

We will begin by exploring the theories advanced by each school concerning the nature of some or all of the following:

reality;

mind, identity, self;

knowledge;

language; and

society and government. 

We will then investigate each school's main critical tenets and interpretative strategies, focusing on the following issues in particular:

Audience: the nature of the relationship between the audience and the (literary) work;

Authorship: the nature of the relationship between the author and his / her (literary) work;

Criticism: the nature of the critical act;

(Literary) Form: the formal structure and genre of (literary) works; and

(Literary) History / Intertextuality / Canonicity: the nature of the relationship linking (literary) works to each other and their socio-historical context;

Art / Literature: the nature of art / literature in general;

Representation: the nature of the relationship between the (literary) work and the world;

We will also compare the views of seminal Feminist, Post-colonial and African American theorists.  To this end, we may pair Foucault's "Nietzsche, Genealogy, History" with Butler's Gender Trouble and Said's Orientalism, for example.  

Moreover, through close examination of practical illustrations of these theories (especially with reference to Post-colonial literatures), students will be encouraged to apply the paradigms discussed in their own critical writings.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

PREREQUISITES

None, though LITS6001 Modern Critical Theory and / or LITS6002 Post-Structuralisms and Post-colonialisms I would be very useful.

ASSESSMENT

Seminar participation and / or presentation(s) and / or response(s): 40%

Research Paper (15-20 double-spaced pages; topic to be approved by course director): 60%