Special Topics in the Humanities (370-6-22)

Topic

Cute, Zany, #oddlysatisfying: Contemp Aesthetics

Instructors

James Joseph Hodge
847 4915675
University Hall Room 408

Meeting Info

University Hall 412: Tues, Thurs 9:30AM - 10:50AM

Overview of class

Cute, Zany, #OddlySatisfying: Contemporary Aesthetics

This course is about how we talk about art and why that matters. What does it mean to call something "cute"? How about "interesting," "zany," "#oddlysatisfying," or -- reaching back into the past -- "beautiful" or even "sublime"? This course explores questions of aesthetic judgment through a sustained and in-depth reading of literary theorist Sianne Ngai's 2012 book Our Aesthetic Categories: Zany, Cute, Interesting. Along the way we will read selections from authors writing in earlier periods (Kant, Lyotard) and major influences on Ngai (Marx, Cavell). We will also consider more recent and primarily internet-based categories of aesthetic judgment as well as possible alternatives to "judgment" (such as when art serves as a prop for self care; or when the term "aesthetic" signals a lifestyle, e.g. "cottage core," "dark academia," etc). This course is designed to appeal to students interested in reading and writing at the intersections of literature, art, philosophy, and mass culture in 20th- and 21st-century western cultures. It is also designed as one possible introduction to the broad field of writings often called "literary theory." To ground our discussion we will analyze a variety of works across genres and media, including videogames, literature, and experimental film and video.

Class Materials (Required)

Course Reader (for purchase at Quartet Copies)

Sianne Ngai, Our Aesthetic Categories: Zany, Cute, Interesting

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780674088122
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0674088122

Class Attributes

Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area