SoSe 18: PS-Introduction to Cultural Studies II: Reading the Other
Cordula Lemke
Comments
This course offers an introduction to Cultural Studies, with a specific focus on critical theories of otherness and self-other constructions as they are presented in central texts by cultural theorists such as Edward Said, Stuart Hall, and Philomena Essed. We will be looking at how conceptualizations of otherness can open up discussions about power relations and social structures in various cultural and historical contexts. More specifically, we will consider how notions of ‘difference’, ‘sameness’, ‘alterity’ and ‘normativity’ may shape and inform how we think, read, and write otherness.
Covering a range of literary genres from 20th century novels to contemporary, post-millennial ‘prose poetry’, we will discuss how otherness is constructed through categories and processes that are e.g. racialised, gendered, and classed. In our engagements with the texts, we will pay particular attention to the ways in which inter-personal and everyday encounters activate and illuminate the wider workings of socio-political structures. This class will be co-taught by Astrid Sophie Øst Hansen.
Teju Cole, Everyday is for the Thief Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness Nella Larsen, Quicksand Claudia Rankine, Citizen: An American Lyric
close14 Class schedule
Regular appointments