Introduction to Reading "Race" Through Psychoanalysis
ENGL 290
Fall 2007 not offered
|
| Crosslisting:
AMST 252, LAST 290 |
Although the idea of race no longer has any biological validity, it continues to function powerfully in American culture, fueling stereotypes and fantasies of racial and ethnic difference, but also providing important ways of creating one's identity. This course will provide an introduction to major psychoanalytical concepts that will help us to articulate how race functions. We will examine the concepts of narcissism, fetishism, trauma, and melancholia in works by Freud, Lacan, Fanon, and other theorists and see how these ideas relate to a cross-cultural selection of literary works. Topics include racial grief, projective identification and stereotyping, testimony, questions of sexual difference, and whiteness. |
|
Essential Capabilities:
None |
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA ENGL |
| Course Format: Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
|
Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
Major Readings:
Herman Melville, BENITO CERENO(1855)
Toni Morrison, RECITATIF, BELOVED (1987)
Nella Larsen, PASSING (1929)
Tino Villanueva, SCENE FROM THE MOVIE GIANT (1993)
Lorna Dee Cervantes, EMPLUMADA (1991)
James Baldwin, GIOVANNI'S ROOM (1956), GOING TO MEET THE MAN (1965)
Nicholasa Mohr, EL BRONX REMEMBERED, esp. A VERY SPECIAL PET (1975)
Richard Rodriguez, HUNGER OF MEMORY (1982)
Gloria Anzaldúa, BORDERLANDS / LA FRONTERA (1987)
Luis Valdez, LOS VENDIDOS (1967)
Sandra Cisneros, WOMAN HOLLERING CREEK (1992)
Abraham Rodriguez, SPIDERTOWN (1993)
Luis Rodriguez, LA VIDA LOCA: GANG DAYS IN L.A (1993)
Films: Bamboozled, Suture, Lone Star, American History X, Paris Is Burning
Course reader will include Freud's texts "On Narcissism," "Mourning and Melancholia," "Remembering, Repeating, Working Through," plus some other short critical articles and essays by Morrison ("Unspeakable Things Unspoken," "Playing in the Dark") and Baldwin ("Color," "Here Be Dragons").
|
Examinations and Assignments:
Ten short response papers (1-2 pp.), one short paper, (5-7 pp.), and one longer final paper (10-13 pp.); class participation. |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
|
|