Topics in Literary Theory (493-0-20)
Topic
The Politics of Aesthetics
Instructors
Scott P Durham
8474914660
1860 S. Campus Drive, Crowe Hall #2-141
Meeting Info
Kresge Centennial Hall 3-410: Tues 3:00PM - 5:50PM
Overview of class
French 493 Topics in Literary Theory: The Politics of Aesthetics
This course will explore three approaches to the problem of "the politics of aesthetics" in dialogue with literary and cinematic works. We will begin with the Marxist tradition, where that politics is conceived in terms of a logic of mediation (as elaborated in the criticism of such figures as Georg Lukàcs, Walter Benjamin, and Fredric Jameson). We will then turn to Jacques Rancière's rethinking of the politics of aesthetics in terms of a dissensual logic of equality—a logic which is developed not only in Rancière's readings of canonical literary works, but also in his discussions of the poetics of history and the dissensual literary practice of proletarian writers. We will then consider Gilles Deleuze's thought on art, cinema and literature, beginning with his books on Marcel Proust and Francis Bacon, before moving on to a discussion of those of his writings where the problem of aesthetic politics comes to the fore—notably, in his collaborative work with Félix Guattari and in his writings on film, as well as in his reframing of the problem of the politics of form (where "the visible" and "the sayable" are thought as "formalizations" of relations of force) in dialogue with the work of Michel Foucault. Over the course of these discussions, we will engage with the writings of such authors as Honoré de Balzac, Charles Baudelaire, Jules Michelet, Gustave Flaubert, and Assia Djebar, as well as with the films of such directors as Sergei Eisenstein, Jean Renoir, Kidlat Tahimik, Assia Djebar, Ridley Scott, Jean-Luc Godard, Antonia Byrd, and Abderrahmane Sissako. The major project for this course will be a conference paper on a text or film drawn from the student's research interests beyond the cinematic and literary corpus assigned. This course will be taught in English, with readings available in both French and English.
Class Materials (Required)
Balzac, La fille aux yeux d'or
[The Girl with the Golden Eyes]
Deleuze, Marcel Proust et les Signes
[Proust and Signs]
Deleuze, Francis Bacon: Logique de la sensation
[Francis Bacon: The Logic of Sensation]
Proust, "Combray" (from Du coté de chez Swann
[Swann's Way])
Jameson, The Political Unconscious
Rancière, Politique de la littérature
[The Politics of Literature]
Other readings will be provided by the instructor.