Studies in Literature and the Arts (487-0-1)

Topic

Media of Obsession

Instructors

Neil Verma

Meeting Info

Annie May Swift Hall 109: Mon 10:00AM - 12:50PM

Overview of class

What is the meaning of obsession within mediated narratives? What is the meaning of obsession when it comes to consuming media - do we live in an "obsession culture?" Is doctoral labor in the humanities itself a way of standing in obsessive relation to an object? This interdisciplinary course draws on media studies, intellectual history, narratology and cultural theory to examine obsession as a theme, problem and metacritical behavior in a variety of works, including film, television, literature, podcasts and the visual arts. Historical work will look at obsession in cultural history from the era of monomania and collecting culture to the age of OCD and algorithms; we will dig into a series of critical concepts that draw on single-mindedness in various ways, including the theory of "the interesting," masochistic desire, mimesis, attachment theory and cringe culture. Some works we will consider include Jane Shoenbrun's I Saw the TV Glow, Andre Breton's Nadja, Jordan Peele's Us, the Serial podcast, and Taylor Swift's Life of a Showgirl. Students will be asked to reflect on what instincts, power structures, and cultural understandings subtend and structure their own capacities to fixate on objects of study, as well as the way in which scholars narrate their obsessions through disciplinary languages, doctrines and ways of imparting value.