Vitalism and Black Aesthetics
ENGL 312
Spring 2023
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
AFAM 311 |
| Course Cluster and Certificates: Social, Cultural, and Critical Theory Certificate |
What is the relationship between Black art and Black life? Does Black art, broadly construed, serve a mimetic function-merely re-presenting reality-or is it a vital expression of the essence of Blackness? These questions are at the root of Black Cultural Studies' engagements with the problem of the aesthetic. In the current conjuncture, reacting to the theorization of Black social death, many theorists have (re)turned to the aesthetic as "proof" of the mattering of Black life and "evidence" of a vibrant sociality. This course will consider the connection between (the theorization of) Black aesthetics and (the affirmation of) Black life. In so doing, we will question the political stakes of Black aesthetics, as well as the value placed upon the concept of life as such, in and through the aesthetic encounter. Additionally, we will explore ways of thinking of the aesthetic that challenge presumptions of its innate liveliness. Readings will include canonical texts in aesthetic theory and vitalist philosophy, as well as more contemporary engagements with these questions from the perspective of Black performance theory, literary theory, and Afro-pessimism. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA ENGL |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (AFAM-MN)(AFAM)(CSCT)(ENGL) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: 50% - 74% |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Donna V. Jones, THE RACIAL DISCOURSES OF LIFE PHILOSOPHY: NÉGRITUDE, VITALISM, MODERNITY
Kevin Quashie, BLACK ALIVENESS, OR A POETICS OF BEING
Katherine McKittrick, DEAR SCIENCE AND OTHER STORIES
Alexander G. Weheliye, "BLACK LIFE/SCHWARZ-SEIN: INHABITATIONS OF THE FLESH"
David Marriott, HAUNTED LIFE: VISUAL CULTURE AND BLACK MODERNITY
Eugene Thacker, AFTER LIFE
Fred Moten, IN THE BREAK: THE AESTHETICS OF THE BLACK RADICAL TRADITION
David Lloyd, UNDER REPRESENTATION: THE RACIAL REGIME OF AESTHETICS
Léopold Senghor, "THE SPIRIT OF CIVILIZATION"
Theodor Adorno, AESTHETIC THEORY
Fumi Okiji, JAZZ AS CRITIQUE: ADORNO AND BLACK EXPRESSION REVISITED
Sylvia Wynter, "RETHINKING 'AESTHETICS'"
Zakiyyah Iman Jackson, "AGAINST CRITICISM: NOTES ON DECIPHERMENT AND THE FORCE OF ART"
Rizvana Bradley and Denise Ferreira da Silva, "FOUR THESES ON AESTHETICS"
Huey Copeland and Sampada Aranke, "AFRO-PESSIMIST AESTHETICS"
Herni Bergson, CREATIVE EVOLUTION
Jayna Brown, BLACK UTOPIAS: SPECULATIVE LIFE AND THE MUSIC OF OTHER WORLDS
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Examinations and Assignments:
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Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Contributes to fulfillment of ENGL major requirements: LH3, Theory, elective |
| Instructor(s): Palmer,Tyrone S. Times: ..T.... 01:20PM-04:10PM; Location: FISK210; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: 5 | JR major: 5 | | |
| Seats Available: 8 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 2 | JR non-major: 3 | SO: X | FR: X |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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