17326

WiSe 15/16: PS-Introduction to Cultural Studies II: Petromodernity

Lenka Filipova

Comments

In his by now classic 1992 essay "Petrofiction", essayist and novelist Amitav Ghosh laments the lack of cultural representations concerning the role of oil in the history and present of modern society, especially the relations of Western societies to regions rich in oil reserves. This course will look at works of fiction and theory that have attempted to address the dominance of oil as a cultural phenomenon rather than an absolute economic and physical necessity, and the many ways in which the aesthetic, affective and material aspects of "petromodernity" constitute modern experience and narratives of living with oil, as well as create desires for change or denial and rationalisations. Contemporary life is fundamentally characterised by petroleum - a relatively easily accessible and rich source of energy which has generated material conditions for modern globalised economies, and an unprecedented human population growth and mobility. Yet, the significance of oil for modern society has only been recognised in the past two decades, leading to petroleum becoming front page news across the globe in a degree and intensity never experienced before - from expressions of anxieties over the diminishment of oil reserves and its implications, the emergence of tar sands as an international environmental problem, discussions concerning the relation of oil to geopolitics and climate change, to debates over alternative energy sources. While examining petroleum as both a natural resource and a cultural trope, we will try to answer the following questions: What is the social role and significance of energy, particularly with respect to "the fiction of energy surplus" (Imre Szeman)? What are the cultural discourses that are centred around oil? What if we consider energy resources as the material preconditions for "genre" and literary transnationalism? What is the relation of the aesthetic of oil to the possibility of systemic change? Can such a broad, complex and above all totalizing concept as "energy" be utilised in critical debates? How can the humanities contribute to debates concerning fossil fuels, climate change and modern energy systems?
The works that we will examine in class will include: Upton Sinclair: Oil! (1927) - excerpts; Abdul Rahman Munif: Cities of Salt (1984) - excerpts; James Howard Kunstler: The Long Emergency (2005) - excerpts; Helon Habila: Oil on Water (2010). We will also work with a variety of visual material and a selection of excerpts from cultural criticism by Rob Nixon, Jane Bennett, Stephanie LeMenager, Imre Szeman, and John Urry. close

16 Class schedule

Regular appointments

Wed, 18:00 - 20:00 16 Class schedule

Wed, 2015-10-14 18:00 - 20:00

Lecturers:
Lenka Filipova