Theories of Literature (410-0-20)
Instructors
Alessia Ricciardi
847/491-8259
1860 S. Campus Drive, Crowe Hall #2-133
Meeting Info
Kresge 5531 Comp Lit. Sem. Rm.: Thurs 3:00PM - 5:50PM
Overview of class
The Resonances of Trauma
Over time, the field of trauma studies has proven to be one of the most productive domains of critical theory, increasingly coming to seem like a much-needed conduit to a world of historical, ethical, and political possibilities. In the first part of the course, we will explore the original, psychoanalytic notion of trauma developed by Freud and Lacan and its role in post-deconstructive criticism in relation to memory and testimony, focusing especially on how trauma in this context came to define the so-called ethical turn in literary studies. We also will consider the conceptualization of post-traumatic stress disorders, which introduced a new critical paradigm in the 1980s, and ultimately the most recent redefinition of trauma in neuroscience. In the second half of the course, we will consider how feminist studies and decolonial studies have reframed the question of trauma in political terms, reorienting it around the concerns of gender, race, colonial violence, domestic violence, harassment, rape, etc. and distancing it from its narrowly Eurocentric genealogical roots. What are the boundaries between individual and collective traumas? What is the role played by affect, vulnerability, resistance, action, and justice vis à vis trauma? To what extent can literature and the visual arts help us to identify and repair trauma? These are some of the questions that will guide our readings as we try to understand why this notion has been so productive and vital yet also problematically pervasive, giving rise to what Fassin calls "The Empire of Trauma." Seminar participants are strongly encouraged to find a way to use the texts on the syllabus in their own research projects in different genres and media. Works by Freud, Lacan, Caruth, Rothberg, Malabou, Herman, Fanon, Hartman, Lorde, Lazali, Craps, Fassin, and Berlant.
Evaluation Method
Participation in class discussion (10%), Oral Presentation (20 minutes; 20%), One Short Paper (2-3 pages; 20%), one Final Paper (10-12 pages; 50%).