Humanities Explorations (260-0-20)

Topic

Law and its Discontents

Instructors

Mauricio Oportus

Meeting Info

Kresge Centennial Hall 2-319: Tues, Thurs 12:30PM - 1:50PM

Overview of class

"Law and its Discontents" will explore the ways in which the figure of the criminal has been represented across national traditions from the 19th century to the present, with a special focus in the Americas. By carefully examining aesthetic depictions of the "outlaw" — from the American "Cowboy," to the Argentinian "Gaucho," the Venezuelan "Llanero," to contemporary portrayals of state violence — this course will address not only the role that these figures have played in the construction of national identities, but will also explore their potential for unsettling our conceptions of lawfulness, institutional justice, and ultimately, of the nation itself. Through the analysis of literary and visual cultural practices that revisit the figure of the criminal, we will address key questions about the relationship between legal order and violence, criminality and popular justice, law and ecological disaster, and the (out)law's place in civil society. These discussions will culminate in a collaborative podcast project, where students will creatively engage with course materials in a public-facing format. Course materials for this course will include works from Roberto Bolaño, J. L. Borges, Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, Jane Campion, Angela Davis, Ariel Dorfman, Mariana Enriquez, Franz Kafka, Sergio Leone, and Josefina Ludmer, among others.

Class Attributes

Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline