ENGL 606 (Section 001, Schedule #34029)
Virginia Commonwealth University
Spring 2018
Th 7:00-9:40pm :: Hibbs 308
Prof. David Golumbia
Office: 324D Hibbs Hall
Spring 2018 Office Hours: MW 3:00-4:00pm; Th 6:00-7:00pm

Literary Criticism

This course explores current approaches to literary studies. The course surveys several disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to texts, drawing on writings by major figures from literary theory, cultural studies, visual studies, and media studies. Some of the approaches we'll cover include deconstruction and post-structuralism, materialism and Marxism, gender and sexuality studies, postcolonial theory, and studies that focus on race and ethnicity. Our focus will be on very recent works, which we'll use to help drive us into reading the foundational works that inform them. We'll largely read from theorists and critics themselves, but also some clarifying and summarizing material by others. Critics and theorists we'll read from include Chen, Cooper, Crary, Culp, Fisher, Fleming, Mills, Morrison, Robbins, Sharpe, and Spivak. The course is taught by discussion. Evaluation is via course participation and one long seminar paper or two shorter papers.

Texts

Texts for purchase (no specific editions are required)

• Mel Chen, Animacies: Biopolitics, Racial Mattering, and Queer Affect (Duke, 2012)
• Melinda Cooper, Life as Surplus: Biotechnology and Capitalism in the Neoliberal Era (University of Washington Press, 2008)
• Jonathan Crary, 24/7: Late Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep (Verso, 2014)
• Andrew Culp, Dark Deleuze (Minnesota, 2016)
• Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? (Zero Books, 2009)
• Juliet Fleming, Cultural Graphology: Writing After Derrida (Chicago, 2016)
• Charles Mills, Black Rights/White Wrongs: The Critique of Racial Liberalism (Oxford, 2017)
• Toni Morrison, The Origin of Others (Harvard, 2017)
• Bruce Robbins, The Beneficiary (Duke, 2017)
• Christina Sharpe, In the Wake: On Blackness and Being (2016)

All other texts will be available electronically on the web, in Blackboard, or via the library.

Assignments and Evaluation

Evaluation will be based on written exercises and course participation as follows:

• Bibliographic Paper (30%): At the beginning of the term the instructor will distribute a list of book-length works that are foundational to the assigned class readings. Each student will choose one of these works and write a 2500 word (approximately 10 pages) essay on the work, explaining its key points and analyzing how it relates to the primary readings for class. This paper will be primarily explication rather than interpretation. The due dates for these papers will be distributed over the course of the semester, with background readings roughly keyed to the primary readings for class, and students will provide a brief (5-10 minute) in-class presentation on the work they wrote about. The presentation will not be graded separately but will be part of the participation grade for the class.
  Link to list of secondary works for bibliographic paper and presentations
• Interpretive Paper (30%): At the end of the term each student will write a 2500 word (approximately 10 pages) essay interpreting a work of literature or culture inspired in some way by our theoretical reading for the semester. The specific topic will be developed in consultation with the instructor. In the final weeks of class each student will give a brief presentation about their paper topic. The presentation will not be graded separately but will be part of the participation grade for the class.
• Course Participation (40%): the instructor will assign a letter grade to each student reflecting their engaged participation in class during the term. This grade includes your attendance and both in-class presentations.

Course-Specific Policies

• Attendance. This course is taught primarily via discussion. Your attendance and participation are vital to its success. A significant portion of your grade (40%) depends on your class participation. "Class participation" does not necessarily mean that you have said what everyone thinks is the smartest thing in the world, but has much more to do with whether other students know your name by mid-semester because you contribute to discussion regularly.
• No Late Work. No late work is accepted in this class. Work handed in late is automatically marked down one-third grade (e.g., a B becomes a B-) for each day it is late, and after one week becomes a failing grade for the assignment.
• Class Preparation. You are expected to have done the primary reading and any other primary course assignments before the beginning of course each week.
• Honor System. All work in this course is subject to the University's Honor System. You may work in teams for some assignments, but all written work must be solely your own, and any reliance on published work must be properly cited.
• Evaluations. Final grades for the course will not be released until the entire class has submitted online course evaluations.

Official VCU Policy Statements

Please consult the Provost's official page on topics such as classroom conduct, email, the Honor System, and other important policy issues.

Week-by-Week Syllabus

Week One. Intro

• Thurs Jan 18. Intro. No reading.

Week Two. Spivak

• Thurs Jan 25. Steve Paulson, "Critical Intimacy: An Interview with Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak," LA Review of Books (web); Spivak, "Three Women's Texts and a Critique of Imperialism," "Appendix: The Setting to Work of Deconstruction" (both on blackboard)

Week Three. Spivak

• Thurs Feb 1. Spivak, "Can the Subaltern Speak?," "Acting Bits/Identity Talk," "Righting Wrongs" (all on blackboard)

Week Four. Fleming, Cultural Graphology

• Thurs Feb 8. Juliet Fleming, Cultural Graphology: Writing After Derrida

Week Five. Culp, Dark Deleuze & Crary, 24/7

• Thurs Feb 15. Culp, Dark Deleuze & Crary, 24/7

Week Six. Mills, Black Rights/White Wrongs

• Thurs Feb 22. Charles Mills, Black Rights/White Wrongs (Chapters 8 and 9 are optional; the rest of the book is required)

Week Seven. Sharpe, In the Wake:

• Thurs Mar 1. Christina Sharpe, In the Wake: On Blackness and Being

Week Eight. Spring Break

• Thurs Mar 8. Spring Break

Week Nine. Chen, Animacies

• Thurs Mar 15. Mel Chen, Animacies

Week Ten. Cooper, Life as Surplus

• Thurs Mar 22. Melissa Cooper, Life as Surplus

Week Eleven. Morrison, The Origin of Others

• Thurs Mar 29. Toni Morrison, The Origin of Others

Week Twelve. No class

• Thurs Apr 5. No class

Week Thirteen. Fisher, Capitalist Realism

• Thurs Apr 12. Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?

Week Fourteen. Robbins, The Beneficiary

• Thurs Apr 19. Bruce Robbins, The Beneficiary

Week Fifteen. Presentations

• Thurs Apr 26. Presentations

Week Sixteen. Presentations

• Thurs May 3. Presentations

Final paper is due by the end of the final exam period, 9:40pm, Thursday, May 10, 2018, per the registrar's exam schedule. The paper should be submitted on Blackboard. No late papers can be accepted for the final paper assignment. There is no other final exam for the course.

Last updated March 17, 2018.