EN 081.16 Literary Themes (Spring 2011-2012: 3)
Satisfies Literature Core Requirement
This section will consider ways of resisting the society of the spectacle:
our contemporary Western world in which images and consumerism govern,
if not replace, human life. We will begin with Debord's The Society
of the Spectacle and some readings from Marx's Capital. We will
concentrate on the recent psychoanalytic work of Kristeva and philosophical
writing of Agamben--both of whom express disenchantment with the current
robotization process. We will analyze novels and films (possibly Godard's
Contempt, Almodóvar's Volver, a film by Haneke) as aesthetic
attempts to sabotage the society of the spectacle. Five analytical papers
will be assigned.
Frances Restuccia
Last Updated: 22-FEB-11