syllabus and schedule

Prof. Jen Boyle
jboyleAThollins.edu
362-6433
Swannanoa Hall 203
Office hours: TH, 12.30-2pm; FR 2.00-3.30pm (and email)

SEMINAR: Eng 379, MW, 2.50-4.20
Turner B-34
http://bb.hollins.edu/
Blog: http://femtheory.wordpress.com/

English 379 Feminist Theory: Literary States and States of Theory

State (OED): A combination of circumstances or attributes belonging for the time being to a person or thing; a particular manner or way of existing, as defined by the presence of certain circumstances or attributes; a condition […]. 2. a. A condition (of mind or feeling) d. Condition of mind or feeling as displayed in one’s manner or behavior. Obs[…]. 3. The mode of existence of a spiritual being; a particular mode or phase of (spiritual) existence […]. 4. a. Physical condition as regards internal make or constitution, molecular form or structure, and the like. Also, one of several forms or conditions in which an object animal, vegetable, or mineral is found to exist; a phase or stage of existence. Also in generalized or abstract sense: each of the possible modes of existence of a system; the condition of a device that determines what output it produces for a given input […]. 5. a. the (or a) state of things or affairs: the way in which events or circumstances stand disposed (at a particular time or within a particular sphere).

Some questions and explorations we will take up:
• What is “in-between” a “state of affairs” (whether the nation-state or a set of political, religious, or social beliefs or practices) and “a condition of mind or feeling”? The former would seem to be under the purview of social and political institutions, and the latter an aspect of imaginative or creative expression. How can theory and literature, as we will approach them in this course, help us to re-conceive possible connections between the two? How do the shifting coordinates of gender, race, and sexuality inform the perceived separation between these different “states”?
• If we invoke “state” as a verb, we are poised to perform something through language. What kind of “becoming” is this, and how do such performances alter experience (political, social, emotional, cognitive)?
• Writing and performance: representations and expressions of states of being, or their own “state of affairs”?
• How do literary performances, paradoxes, and forms allow us to re-imagine race, sexuality, and gender as states of becoming rather than fixed bodies, things, and realities? How does the literary paradox resist the myths of both “radical choice” and unmediated truth?

Some terms we will begin with: Performativity; textuality; ontology; weak ontology.

There are three separate components to the course:

1) Thoughtful and experimental reading, writing, and discussion (we will deal with some difficult texts, but we will spend time enough at least to become familiar with their complexity and power).

2) Participation in productive forums including, a) planning and participating in the roundtable conference; b) producing one piece of genre writing – literary or performance, grant narrative, or congressional staffer’s report

3) An exploratory final project that incorporates a critical narrative and that works with at least one theoretical text and one cultural artifact (see detailed handout for planning document and specific examples and requirements)

Paper #1: Critical/Literary Analysis w/ primary and secondary sources (see separate handout, 4-5 pages) 20%

Paper #2: Genre Response (see separate handout) Options = literary or performative; grant narrative; or congressional staffer’s report, 3-5 pages 20%

Final Project (see separate handout, 6-8 pages of critical narrative and performance, projection, or creation component) 30%

Roundtable Forum (discussion, planning, blog posts, and approx. 2 pages of writing), 15% [NB: the roundtable will in part be a preparation for the final projects]

Seminar participation/discussion and presentations (2), 15%

Attendance: I cannot emphasize enough how important regular attendance is to the success of the course. The depth and richness of a course of this type depends on active involvement of all participants. I will open each unit with a lecture or performance and by posing some of my own questions about the material, but each unit will develop and evolve primarily in relation to your own interests, investments, and contributions.

If you have an event or circumstance that necessitates your absence, I expect you to notify me in advance. After three absences I drop you a whole letter grade. Medical and University absences require documentation and consultation.
Accommodations: Accommodations for any reason must be worked out with the appropriate offices on campus. You should also consult with me in advance so I can work with you.
Plagiarism: We have an honor code at Hollins that requires you to go before an honor court and risk failing and expulsion if you cheat or undermine (imagine how horrific this would be; it’s like a scene out of The Crucible!!! To be avoided at all costs, for sure). Before I will accept any paper you write, I ask you to fill out a sheet where you confirm in writing that no part of your paper was taken from or written by another party. Now that we have the legalese out of the way, let me say that I think we have to be clearly educated about what counts as legitimate intellectual labor in any given context (individual, collaborative, and so forth). We will talk about as much and make sure that everyone is clear on what is expected for each assignment.

I have things to say in separate documents about the following:
How I approach and grade your writing; individual units and organization of the course; and presentations and discussion.

Schedule of Readings:

W: 8/29: Introduction: the debates/stakes: why Antigone? See this conference site

M:9/3: Antigone; Barry, Beginning Theory (hereafter, BT), Chpt. 1: “Theory before ‘Theory’: Liberal Humanism”

W:9/5: Antigone; BT, “Psychoanalytic Criticism”

M: 9/7: Freud on Femininity; Hegel on Antigone (R); BT, “Feminist Criticism”; Judith Butler “Is Kinship Always Already Heterosexual?” in Undoing Gender

W: 9/12: Judith Butler, from Antigone’s Claim (R)

M: 9/17: Gayle Rubin (R), from “The Traffic in Women: Notes on the Political Economy of Sex”; Antigone

W: 9/19: BT, “Post-Structuralism and Deconstruction”; discussion/presentation #1;
FIRST ESSAY DRAFT

Film: Hedwig and the Angry Inch

M: 9/24: Judith Butler, “Imitation and Gender Insubordination” (R)
FIRST ESSAY DUE
W:9/26: Twain, Huckleberry Finn

M:10/1: Huck Finn; Jane Smiley, “Say It Ain’t So” and from Myra Jehlen, “Banned in Concord” (R)

W: 10/3: Huck Finn discussion/presentation #2

M:10/8: Huck Finn
Fred Moten, “Black Mo’nin’ in the Sound of the Photograph” of the chapter “Visible Music” from In the Break: The Aesthetics of the Black Radical Tradition (R)

W: 10/10: “Spike Lee’s Huckleberry Finn”; “In Praise of Spike Lee’s Huckleberry Finn by Ralph Wiley” (R) ; Elizabeth Abel, from “Black Writing, White Reading: Race and the Politics of Feminist Interpretation” (R)

The art/performances of Kara Walker

M: 10/15: bell hooks, “Postmodern Blackness” (R); BT, “Postmodernism” and “Marxist Criticism”

W: 10/17: discussion/presentation #3; Gayatri Spivak, “Teaching for the Times” (R)

M: 10/22 : Nella Larsen, Passing

DRAFT OF SECOND WRITING ASSIGNMENT DUE

W: 10/24: Passing

M: 10/29: Passing; Judith Butler. “Gender is Burning: Questions of Appropriation and Subversion.” Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of “Sex.” New York: Routledge, 1993.

FINAL COPY OF SECOND WRITING ASSIGNMENT DUE

W: 10/31: Paris is Burning (discussion/presentation #4)
bell hooks. “Is Paris Burning?” from Black Looks: Race and Representation. Boston: South End, 1992. (R)

M: 11/5: Bryan Reynolds, “9/11 and the Critical Future” and Lyn Hejinian, from The Rejection of Closure (R)

W: 11/7: Roundtable Forums

M: 11/12: Roundtable readings (TBA)

W: 11/14: Roundtable readings (TBA)

M: 11/19-23: T BREAK

M: 11/26: Project Abstracts

W: 11/28: Project Presentations

M: 12/3: Presentations

W: 12/5: Presentations

8-13: EXAM WEEK: Final Projects and statements