Studies in Literature and the Arts (487-0-40)

Topic

Psychoanalysis and Cinema

Instructors

Lakshmi Padmanabhan

Meeting Info

Meets in Non-General PurposeRm: Thurs 10:00AM - 1:50PM
Annie May Swift Hall G14: Thurs 10:00AM - 1:50PM

Overview of class

What are the concepts, methods and approaches worth retaining from the field-defining encounter between Lacanian psychoanalysis and film theory, nearly half a century after its high point in the late 60s and early 70s? am Throughout, we will be elaborating on the proposition that the unconscious is a conceptual necessity for understanding the relations engendered by contemporary media and the social worlds they mediate. Each weekly meeting will consist of a screening and a discussion. Screenings will include a variety of genres and modes of filmmaking.

Familiarity with psychoanalytic theory is not required, though welcome. We will spend some time in the first sessions working through some key texts in Freud and Lacan to build a shared vocabulary for the course.