MATX 601 (Section 901, Schedule #17827)
Virginia Commonwealth University
Fall 2019
T 4:00 - 6:40pm :: Hibbs 330
Prof. David Golumbia
Office: 333 Hibbs Hall
Fall 2019 Office Hours: TR 2-3:30

Texts and Textuality

This course, a core requirement for the Media, Art, and Text (MATX) PhD program, explores current theories of texts and textuality, with some emphasis on the ways they relate to the study of other media and the arts. 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. The course is taught by discussion. Evaluation is via course participation and one seminar paper.

Texts

Text for purchase; I strongly recommend that you use a paper and not electronic copy of the course text.

• Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan, eds., Literary Theory: An Anthology. Third edition (Wiley-Blackwell, 2017) · this specific edition is required

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:

• Paper (60%): students will write a single, publishable-quality, seminar paper, of at least 5000 words, due at the end of the term. Halfway through the term, students will write a draft of about half that length to get feedback. Students may write on any topic appropriate to the class. Specific topics will be developed in consultation with the instructor; for PhD students, students are encouraged to work on material that lies within their area of interest with an eye toward their dissertation
• Course Participation (40%): the instructor will assign a letter grade to each student reflecting their engaged participation in class during the term.

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. Introduction

• Tues Aug 20. Introduction. No reading

Week Two. Overview; New Criticism

• Tues Aug 27. Rivkin & Ryan, "A Short History of Theory"; Rivkin & Ryan, "Formalisms"; Brooks, "The Formalist Critics"; Beardsley & Wimsatt, "The Intentional Fallacy"

Week Three. Structuralism

• Tues Sep 3. Rivkin & Ryan, "The Implied Order"; Culler, "The Linguistic Foundation"; Barthes, "Mythologies"; Newman, "From Beats to Arcs"; Lohafer, "The Stories of 'Passion'"; Alice Munro, "Passion"

Week Four. Psychoanalysis

• Tues Sep 10. Rivkin & Ryan, "Strangers to Ourselves: Psychoanalysis"; Freud, "The Interpretation of Dreams" and "The Uncanny"; Winnicott, "Transitional Objects and Transitional Phenomena"; Hinrichsen, "Trauma Studies and the Literature of the US South"

Week Five. No class

• Tues Sep 17. No class; instructor away

Week Six. Poststructuralism

• Tues Sep 24. Foucault, "What Is an Author?" (in "Structuralism, Linguistics, Narratology" section of book); Rivkin and Ryan, "The Class of 1968"; Derrida, "Différance" and "That Dangerous Supplement"; Barthes, "The Death of the Author" and "From Work to Text"; Johnson, "Writing"

Week Seven. Critical Theory

• Tues Oct 1. Rivkin and Ryan, "Starting with Zero"; Marx, selection from The Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844; Marx, "The German Ideology"; Benjamin, "Theses on the Philosophy of History"; Althusser, "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses"

Week Eight. Gender Studies and Queer Theory

• Tues Oct 8. Rivkin and Ryan, "Feminist Paradigms/Gender Effects"; Rubin, "The Traffic in Women"; Rich, "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Experience"; Cixous, "The Laugh of the Medusa"

Week Nine. No class

• Tues Oct 15. No class; instructor away

Week Ten. Gender Studies and Queer Theory

• Tues Oct 22. Butler, "Imitation and Gender Insubordination"; Grewal and Kaplan, "Global Identities"; Mohanty, "Women Workers and Capitalist Scripts"; Sedgwick, "Epistemology of the Closet"; Hird, "Naturally Queer"; Muñoz, "Crusing Utopia"

Week Eleven. Ethnic, Indigenous, Post-Colonial Studies

• Tues Oct 29. Rivkin and Ryan, "English without Shadows"; Said, selection from Orientalism; Achebe, "An Image of Africa"; Spivak, "Three Women's Texts"; Morrison, selection from Playing in the Dark

Week Twelve. Ethnic, Indigenous, Post-Colonial Studies

• Tues Nov 5. Kincaid, "A Small Place"; Appadurai, "Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy"; Hall, "Cultural Identity and Diaspora"; Venuti, "Translation, Empiricism, Ethics"; Spivak, "Can the Subaltern Speak?" (essay on Blackboard)

Week Thirteen. Affect

• Tues Nov 12. Rivkin and Ryan, "In the Body of the Text"; Keane, "Narrative Empathy"; Ahmed, "Affective Economies"; Berlant, "Cruel Optimism" (essay on Blackboard)

Week Fourteen. Paper conferences

• Tues Nov 19. Paper conferences

Week Fifteen. No class

• Tues Nov 26. No class (Thanksgiving)

Week Sixteen. Paper conferences

• Tues Dec 3. Paper conferences

Final paper is due by the end of the final exam period, 6:50pm, Tuesday, Dec 10, 2019, 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 September 27, 2019.