Syllabus: Literature CS 114

The Biopolitics of the Female Body in Twentieth-Century Literature

Winter 2016

Enroll Code: 29280.

Teaching Associate: Patrick Mooney
Email: patrickmooney AT umail DOT ucsb DOT edu
Voicemail: (805) 272-0069
Office Location: CCS Office Trailer #1002.
Class Meetings: Tu/Th 5:00–6:20; Bldg 494, room 160B.
Office Hours: M 2–3 and Th 1–2, or by appointment.

• 2016-01-04T14:00:00–01-04-2016T15:00:00: Patrick Mooney's office hours, CCS Office Trailer #1002
• 2016-01-07T13:00:00–01-07-2016T14:00:00: Patrick Mooney's office hours, CCS Office Trailer #1002
• 2016-01-11T14:00:00–01-11-2016T15:00:00: Patrick Mooney's office hours, CCS Office Trailer #1002
• 2016-01-14T13:00:00–01-14-2016T14:00:00: Patrick Mooney's office hours, CCS Office Trailer #1002
• 2016-01-21T13:00:00–01-21-2016T14:00:00: Patrick Mooney's office hours, CCS Office Trailer #1002
• 2016-01-25T14:00:00–01-25-2016T15:00:00: Patrick Mooney's office hours, CCS Office Trailer #1002
• 2016-01-28T13:00:00–01-28-2016T14:00:00: Patrick Mooney's office hours, CCS Office Trailer #1002
• 2016-02-01T14:00:00–02-01-2016T15:00:00: Patrick Mooney's office hours, CCS Office Trailer #1002
• 2016-02-04T13:00:00–02-04-2016T14:00:00: Patrick Mooney's office hours, CCS Office Trailer #1002
• 2016-02-08T14:00:00–02-08-2016T15:00:00: Patrick Mooney's office hours, CCS Office Trailer #1002
• 2016-02-11T13:00:00–02-11-2016T14:00:00: Patrick Mooney's office hours, CCS Office Trailer #1002
• 2016-02-15T14:00:00–02-15-2016T15:00:00: Patrick Mooney's office hours, CCS Office Trailer #1002
• 2016-02-18T13:00:00–02-18-2016T14:00:00: Patrick Mooney's office hours, CCS Office Trailer #1002
• 2016-02-22T14:00:00–02-22-2016T15:00:00: Patrick Mooney's office hours, CCS Office Trailer #1002
• 2016-02-25T13:00:00–02-25-2016T14:00:00: Patrick Mooney's office hours, CCS Office Trailer #1002
• 2016-02-29T14:00:00–02-29-2016T15:00:00: Patrick Mooney's office hours, CCS Office Trailer #1002
• 2016-03-03T13:00:00–03-03-2016T14:00:00: Patrick Mooney's office hours, CCS Office Trailer #1002
• 2016-03-07T14:00:00–03-07-2016T15:00:00: Patrick Mooney's office hours, CCS Office Trailer #1002
• 2016-03-10T13:00:00–03-10-2016T14:00:00: Patrick Mooney's office hours, CCS Office Trailer #1002

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Course Description

This course traces the female body as an area of ideological contention in the English-speaking world, with a strong emphasis on the United States, from the 1890s to the early 21st century. Overarching concerns will include the formation of concepts and understandings of identity and sexuality, the interconnection of social roles and power structures with questions about female embodiment and appropriate female behavior, the question of who benefits from existing understandings about the way things really are, and a continuing emphasis on connections between the course's gender- and sexuality-based concerns and obvious truths in other domains, especially race and class. The course emphasizes theoretically informed reading practices, looking through a series of related lenses at shifting literary representations of femininity through the long twentieth century. Student work throughout the quarter will involve regular blog entries using the course's theoretical selections to comment both on literary texts and on contemporary news stories and/or politics, plus a final analytical or artistic project that incorporates, encapsulates, deploys, and/or responds to the course's major issues and topics.

Texts to Purchase

• Kate Chopin, The Awakening (1899), ISBN 978-0-486-27786-8.
• Carson McCullers, The Member of the Wedding (1946), ISBN 978-0-618-49239-8.
• Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), ISBN 978-0-441-00731-8.
• Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality, vol. 1 (1976), ISBN 978-0-679-72469-8.
• Toni Morrison, Beloved (1987), ISBN 978-1-4000-3341-6.

Additional Texts Available Online

• Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wall-Paper (1892).
• Gertrude Stein, The Good Anna from Three Lives (1909)
• Stories and poems from Jean Toomer's Cane (1923).
• Stories by H.P. Lovecraft (1920–33).
• Poems by Anne Sexton (1960–74), Sylvia Plath (1958–63), Ted Hughes (1963–98), and Seamus Heaney (1969–87).
• Theoretical selections from:
  • Thomas Lemke, Biopolitics: An Advanced Introduction (2011)
  • Judith Butler, Gender Trouble (1990)
  • Judith Butler, Precarious Life (2004)
  • Roberto Esposito, Bíos (2008)
  • Giorgio Agamben, Homo Sacer (1998)
  • J.-A. Mbembé, Necropolitics (2003).

Print texts are available in the UCen Bookstore or online through the normal retail channels. Personally, I frequently use alibris.com to comparison shop (they don't pay me to endorse them; I'm just a satisfied customer). You may also find isbn.nu to be a useful comparison-shopping site (hyperlinks in the list above lead to alibris.com searches for those books). I do ask that you use the editions of books ordered through the UCen bookstore for the course (their ISBNs are listed above) in order to facilitate class discussion. Readings listed above as additional texts available online are available on GauchoSpace (they are also marked GS on the detailed schedule below).

Trigger Warnings and Behavioral Expectations

You will likely find that some of the texts we encounter this quarter can be fairly described as offensive, and perhaps even that some are very offensive. Among other potential issues, we will encounter texts that include racist and sexist viewpoints in their discussions, plots, or other structural elements; we will even encounter texts that can themselves be fairly described as sexist or racist. We will also encounter texts that speak clearly (and sometimes in a rather direct and/or vulgar manner) about sexual experiences and bodily functions. You are also likely to encounter, at some point in the quarter, political viewpoints that differ from your own in some meaningful way. Remember that the presence of a viewpoint in a text does not, by itself, imply that the author (or the instructor!) endorses that viewpoint. Remember, too, that grading and other aspects of how the course's instructor treats you do not require that you agree with the authors on the syllabus or with the instructor's position. Remember that the course's basic expectation is that you will think deeply, analytically, and honestly, not that you agree with some orthodox position that I have somehow embedded in the course contents.

At the same time, remember that we will be spending our quarter looking at volatile issues that are politically contentious and that these are issues that may personally affect your classmates or be important to them for other reasons or in other ways. The course's normative expectation is not that all of you will agree with me, nor with (some subset of) the authors on the syllabus, nor with each other, because disagreements are an essential part of the learning process (and, more broadly, of the search for truth). Instead, my expectation is that when disagreements arise, we will treat each other decently and respectfully, attempting to see things from each other's point of view, operating in good faith and assuming good faith in each other, remembering that intelligent people can come to different positions without necessarily being dishonest, and disagreeing thoughtfully about ideas rather than attacking each other personally.

All of this is to say that the course material is challenging emotionally and politically in addition to being intellectually demanding, and a basic expectation for all students is that they approach the course material and their peers in a fair, open-minded way, giving everything and everyone a fair, considered hearing, and treating everyone else in the class with the respect that is due to all of our colleagues. Students who cannot, or are not willing to, encounter difficult texts, or to treat people with differing opinions respectfully, will find that this class is a poor choice for them.

Requirements

In brief, all students are required to:

• read all required texts;
• attend regularly and participate actively;
• schedule in advance and give a presentation that provides an overview of a theoretical position that appears in a theory-oriented course reading, and lead a discussion with the class on the topic of that presentation;
  • If you are taking the class for three or more units, you must also prepare a handout for other students that provides an overview of the theoretical position being discussed by introducing, defining, or otherwise concisely explaining the major vocabulary, methodological approaches, and/or issues at stake in the text or section of text that is the subject of your presentation. You must provide me with an electronic copy of your handout, which will be posted on the course website.
• establish a course-related blog and make a certain number of course-related posts; and
• interact productively with blog entries made by other students in the class by commenting thoughtfully on their blog posts.

Students taking the class for four or more units are also expected to prepare a final project.

How much effort you are required to put toward each requirement depends on how much of a commitment you have made when registering, based on the number of units for which you have signed up:

Number of units	Attend & participate	Minimum presentation length	Presentation handout required?	Minimum blog posts	Minimum comments on others' blogs	Final project required?	Other
one	✓	15 minutes		2 (1 no later than week 5)	3 (2 by week 7)
two	✓	20 minutes		3 (2 no later than week 5)	4 (2 by week 7)
three	✓	30 minutes	✓	4 (2 no later than week 5)	5 (3 by week 8)
four	✓	20 minutes	✓	3 (2 no later than week 5)	4 (2 by week 7)	✓
five	✓	30 minutes	✓	4 (2 no later than week 5)	5 (3 by week 8)	✓
six	✓	30 minutes	✓	4 (2 no later than week 5)	5 (3 by week 8)	✓	Speak to me by week 2.

Students who do not complete all of the requirements, or who do not do so in a timely fashion, will find that they receive fewer units at the end of the quarter than they signed up for. If you are having trouble keeping up with the pace of work in the class, please see me so that we can ensure that you receive the number of units you are trying to receive.

Blogging assignments

All students are required to set up a personal blog with a blog-hosting service of their choice and to create a certain minimum number of course-related posts during the quarter. (The exact number depends on how many units you expect to receive at the end of the quarter.) Students are also expected to interact productively with other students' blog posts by making thoughtful, insightful comments on blog posts by other students throughout the quarter.

Blogging assignment requirements are explained in detail in the blogging assignment write-up.

Presentation assignment

You are expected to sign up for a presentation in which you will present a basic introduction to one of the theoretical perspectives from the course syllabus to the rest of the class. The length of the presentation and other parameters depend on the number of units you expect to earn in the course.

More information is available on the presentation assignment write-up.

Final projects

Students who are taking the course for four or more units are expected to complete a final project. It is highly recommended that you have an informal conversation about your ideas for the final project with me before you put extensive work into it. Your final project may be any of:

• A standard analytical, literary-critical paper of eight to twelve pages on any course text or theoretical question or issue related to the course's theoretical concerns. (Students who are interested in writing on texts not on the syllabus should consult with me before doing so—I am open to allowing you to do this, but you really should talk to me before you do extensive work. Similarly, if you want to write a longer paper, you are welcome to do so, but I encourage you to talk to me about your ideas early.)
• A short story or longer piece of creative writing that shows you have attentively considered the theoretical and thematic concerns we have discussed during the quarter and are able to engage thoughtfully with them while producing a piece of writing that also engages a reader effectively.
• A creative project of another type in another medium that engages deeply and thoughtfully with the course's concerns.

Regardless of which option you choose for your final project:

• You are strongly encouraged to have an informal discussion about your plans for your final project with me no later than week seven, even if your plans are not yet finalized or firm. If you would like to write on a text not on the syllabus, or if you are taking the open-ended creative project of another type option, you are strongly encouraged to discuss your plans with me no later than week five.
• You should also provide a cover letter (or otherwise accompanying letter) indicating what type of feedback you would like to receive on your final project; I will give you this feedback at the beginning of spring quarter.

Schedule

This reading schedule is subject to change, though it is likely that it will do so only if there is broad consensus, or if the dates of student presentations need to change.

Readings marked (GS) are available on GauchoSpace.

• Week 1: 5 and 7 January
  • 5 January: Introduction.
  • 7 January: Lemke, Life as the Basis of Politics and Life as an Object of Politics from Biopolitics: An Advanced Introduction (both GS); Toomer, Karintha, Becky, Face, Carma, Portrait in Georgia, Blood-Burning Moon, Bona and Paul from Cane (all GS).
• Week 2: 12 and 14 January
  • 12 January: Gilman, The Yellow Wall-Paper (GS); Chopin, The Awakening, pp. 1–30 (ch. I–X).
  • 14 January: Foucault, parts I and II (pp. 1–49); Chopin, The Awakening, pp. 30–61 (ch. XI–XX)..
  • Saturday, 16 January, 11:59 p.m.: You must have chosen a blog hosting provider, registered for an account, performed initial set-up for your blog, and emailed me the URL for your blog.
    • It would be wise to have already written a blog post by this point, though this is not required.
    • If you are planning on taking the course for six units, you must speak to me by the end of this week to explain how you plan to earn the last unit.
• Week 3: 19 and 21 January
  • 19 January: Foucault, part III (pp. 51–73); Chopin, The Awakening, pp. 61–116 (ch. XXI–XXXIX).
  • 21 January: Stein, The Good Anna (GS).
• Week 4: 26 and 28 January
  • 26 January: McCullers, The Member of the Wedding, part one (pp. 1–46); Heaney, The Outlaw, Requiem for the Croppies, Casualty, An Afterwards, From the Frontier of Writing, From the Republic of Conscience, Clearances, The Wishing Tree, From the Canton of Expectation from Opened Ground; Bog Queen, The Grauballe Man, Punishment, Strange Fruit, Act of Union, Whatever You Say Say Nothing from North (all GS).
  • 28 January: Foucault, part IV (pp. 77–131).
  • Suggested: Students taking the course for more than one unit are strongly encouraged to have written at least one blog post by the end of this week, though this is not required.
    • This is a good time to start looking at other people's blog posts (links to everyone's blogs are provided on the course home page) and commenting on them, though you are not required to do so by this time.
• Week 5: 2 and 4 February
  • 2 February: McCullers, The Member of the Wedding, parts two and three (pp. 49–163).
  • 4 February: Foucault, part V (pp. 132–59); Lovecraft, Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family, The Dunwich Horror, and The Thing on the Doorstep (all GS).
  • Saturday, 6 February, 11:59 p.m.: Students taking the course for one unit must have completed one blog post by this time. Students taking the class for two to six units must have completed two blog posts by this time.
    • This is also a good time to look at blog posts by other students (they are listed on the course home page) and comment on them.
• Week 6: 9 and 11 February
  • 9 February: Agamben, introduction and part 3 of Homo Sacer (GS).
  • 11 February: Sexton, Unknown Girl in the Maternity Ward, Old Dwarf Heart, The Black Art, Consorting with Angels, Sylvia’s Death, Menstruation at Forty, Little Girl, My String Bean, My Lovely Woman, For My Lover, Returning to His Wife, It Is a Spring Afternoon, You All Know the Story of the Other Woman, The Ballad of the Lonely Masturbator, Barefoot, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Rumpelstiltskin, Angels of the Love Affair, The Fury of Cocks, After Auschwitz (all GS); Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness, pp. 1–70 (ch. 1–5).
• Week 7: 16 and 18 February
  • 16 February: Butler, Subjects of Sex/Gender/Desire from Gender Trouble (GS); Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness, pp. 71–146 (ch. 6–10).
  • 18 February: Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness, pp. 147–300 (ch. 11–20).
  • Saturday, 20 February, 11:59 p.m.: Students taking the course for one, two, or four units must have made at least two meaningful, substantial comments on blog posts by other students by this point.
• Week 8: 23 and 25 February
  • 23 February: Butler, Violence, Mourning, Politics and The Charge of Anti-Semitism from Precarious Life (both GS).
  • 25 February: Plath, The Disquieting Muses, Full Fathom Five, Lorelei, Moonrise, I Want, I Want, Metaphors, The Beekeeper’s Daughter, The Colossus, Morning Song, The Moon and the Yew-Tree, Elm, The Applicant, Daddy, Ariel, Poppies in October, Lady Lazarus (all GS); Hughes, The Shot, Pink Wool Knitted Dress, Stubbing Wharfe, Remission, Isis, Epiphany, A Dream, The Bee God, Being Christlike, Totem, Night-Ride on Ariel, The Ventriloquist, A Picture of Otto (all GS).
  • Saturday, 27 February, 11:59 p.m.: Students taking the course for three, five, or six units must have made at least three meaningful, substantial comments on blog posts by other students by this point.
• Week 9: 1 and 3 March
  • 1 March: Morrison, Beloved, part I (pp. 1–195).
  • 3 March: Esposito, The Enigma of Biopolitics from Bíos (GS).
  • Saturday, 5 March, 11:59 p.m.: You must have completed all required entries on your blog by this point.
• Week 10: 8 and 10 March
  • 8 March: J.-A. Mbembé, Necropolitics (GS).
  • 10 March: Morrison, Beloved, parts II and III (pp. 196–324).
  • Saturday, 12 March, 11:59 p.m.: You must have made all required comments on other students' blog posts (student blogs are listed on the course home page) by this time.
• Finals week: 13–19 March
  • Tuesday, 15 March, 11:59 p.m.: Students taking the course for four or more units must submit their final projects via email by this date. (Students completing a project that cannot be submitted by email should discuss alternate arrangements with me before this date.)
  • Saturday, 19 March, 11:59 p.m.: You must send me an email summarizing your blogging activity, as described in the blogging assignment write-up.

Other Resources

A collection of course materials can be found online at http://is.gd/rovaqu (or, if you're fond of additional typing, at http://patrickbrianmooney.nfshost.com/~patrick/ta/w16/). At a bare minimum, that site will have electronic copies of all handouts that I distribute during class. There is also a Twitter stream for the course, accessible from the same location, that provides reminders about upcoming events and additional course-related information.

All of Which Is to Say …

I expect that you will put in the necessary work to be prepared for class, that you will engage deeply and substantially with the course material, that you will turn in your work on time, and that you will treat everyone else in class with respect. I want everyone to benefit from and to succeed in this course, and would be happy to hear input from you about how I can help you to do so. If you have questions or concerns, please let me know in my office hours, after class, or by email.

I try very hard to be available to, supportive of, and understanding toward my students. If you are having difficulties with the course material, please come talk to me. If you have unusual, stressful, or bizarre things happen during the term that make it difficult for you to perform up to your potential in the course, please come talk to me. If you just can't seem to get started writing or otherwise working on your final project, please come talk to me. If I can help you to be successful in any reasonable way, please let me know. My job is primarily to support you on your way to academic, intellectual, and artistic success. I am always grateful for input from you about how I can do so.

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