Epistemology II:
“Postmodernism and Poststructuralism”
Spring 2010
Kate Schechter, A. M., L.C.S.W.
312/339-5266; kschecht@uchicago.edu
Course Description
“Postmodernism” defies canonization, and yet the texts, discourses, ideas, and practices associated with this term have dramatically reshaped social-cultural theory and psychoanalytic thought over the last twenty years. How do we come to grips with these texts/discourses/ideas/practices in our clinical work, our clinical theorizing, and our social scientific research? This course introduces postmodernism and poststructuralism through selected readings from several key thinkers (Foucault, Lyotard, Derrida, Jameson) whose ideas we will then use to ground our own exploration of the recent work of writers who rethink the relations of psychoanalysis and social theory.
The goal of the course is to promote the student’s familiarity with a range of recent arguments in social-cultural theory and in psychoanalytic theory that have decisively impacted the sphere of clinical practice. Please note, this is not a clinical class.
Prerequisite
Epistemology I
Required Texts
Articles (see each week for listing)
Books (you are not obliged to buy these; we are reading selected articles from each, so I will figure out a way to make the selections available through the ICSW library):
Elliott, A. (1996). Subject to ourselves. Cambridge: Polity/Blackwell
Reppen, J. (2004) Way beyond Freud: postmodern psychoanalysis observed. London: Open Gate.
Fairfield, S., L. Layton, and C. Stack (Eds.) (2002). Bringing the plague: toward a postmodern psychoanalysis. New York: Other Press.
Frie, R., Orange, D. (Eds). (2009). Beyond Postmodernism: new dimensions in clinical theory and practice. New York: Routledge.
Assignments
I. Participation and Class presentations (50% of grade).
a. Participation: Attend all classes; come prepared to be active and thoughtful.
b. Presentations: Conceptual analysis of 2 readings (one longer presentation, of approximately 30 mins; one shorter one of 5-10 mins). In addition to assessing the reading in your own terms, your presentations should address the following:
- What is the social/historical context of this piece?
- What question, issue, or debate is the author responding to?
- What is the author’s central argument? What is its logic? What central points does the author make to build this argument? What is the evidence the author presents to support it? What is the author’s epistemological stance? What is your evaluation of the argument?
- How does the piece resonate with (or illuminate or obscure) clinical or other social issues you are interested in?
II. Paper (50% of grade). Write a 10-12 page paper that positions your own research interest in relation to the topics covered in class. The paper should reflect your integration of the course materials and your original and critical thinking, and will be graded on that basis.
CLASS SCHEDULE
Class #1. Introduction. What is Postmodernism?
Kant, I. (1784). An answer to the question: what is enlightenment?In P. Waugh (Ed.) (1992). Postmodernism: a reader. London: Edward Arnold.
Foucault. M. (1984). What is enlightenment? In P. Rabinow (Ed.) Essential works of Michel Foucault, 1954-1984, Vol 111: Ethics. New York: New Press.
Goldner, V. Relational theory and the postmodern turn. In S. Fairfield, L. Layton, and C. Stack (Eds.) (2002). Bringing the plague: toward a postmodern psychoanalysis. New York: Other Press.
Stern, D. What you know first: construction and deconstruction in relational psychoanalysis. In S. Fairfield, L. Layton, and C. Stack (Eds.) (2002). Bringing the plague: toward a postmodern psychoanalysis. New York: Other Press.
Class #2. Postmodern epistemology. Poststructuralism. What is an author? (on meaning, communication, textuality, and the archive)
Derrida, J. (1982). Signature, event, context. In Margins of philosophy. Chicago: U Chicago Press.
Foucault, M. (1969). What is an author? In Faubion, ed. Essential works of Michel Foucault, 1954-1984, Vol II: Aesthetics, method, and epistemology. New York: New Press.
Class #3. The Freud-Marx synthesis: psychoanalysis at its limits.
Jameson, F. Selections from Postmodernism, or, the Cultural logic of late capitalism. in M. Drolet (Ed.) (2004). The Postmodern reader. London: Routledge.
Lyotard: Selections from The Postmodern condition: a report on knowledge. in M. Drolet (Ed.) (2004). The Postmodern reader. London: Routledge.
Class #4. Subjects and selves; governmentality and biopower.
Foucault, M. The Subject and Power. In Rabinow, ed. Essential works of Michel Foucault, 1954-1984, Vol 1: Power. New York: New Press.
Foucault, M. The ethics of the concern for self as a practice of freedom. In Rabinow, ed. Essential works of Michel Foucault, 1954-1984, Vol III: Ethics. New York: New Press.
Foucault, M. The abnormals. In Rabinow, ed. Essential works of Michel Foucault, 1954-1984, Vol III: Ethics. New York: New Press.
Foucault, M. Society must be defended. Chapter 11.
pdflibrary.wordpress.com/2008/02/12/foucault-society-defended/
(click where it says “foucault / society must be defended (conclusion)” and you will pull up a .pdf)
Class #5, #6, and #7. The clinic and the academy: clinical uptakes of and resistances to “postmodernism.”
Bader. M. (1998). Postmodern epistemology: the problem of validation and the retreat from therapeutics in psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 8(1), 1-32 (PEP)
Goldberg, A. (2001). Postmodern Psychoanalysis. IJP Vol 82 (PEP)
Hoffman: Toward a social constructionist view of the psychoanalytic situation. In S. Fairfield, L. Layton, and C. Stack (Eds.) (2002). Bringing the plague: toward a postmodern psychoanalysis. New York: Other Press.
Leary, K. (1994). Psychoanalytic “Problems” and Postmodern “Solutions.” Psychoanalytic Q., V. 63, pp. 433-465. (PEP)
Class #6, The clinic and the academy: clinical uptakes of and resistances to “postmodernism.”
S. Fairfield, L. Layton, and C. Stack (Eds.). (2002). Bringing the plague: toward a postmodern psychoanalysis. New York: Other Press. (Selections, TBA)
Fiscalini, J. (2006). Principles of coparticipant inquiry: an introductory outline and implications for therapeutic action. Int. Forum Psychoanal., 15:214-219 (PEP)
Frie, R., Orange, D. (Eds). (2009). Beyond Postmodernism: new dimensions in clinical theory and practice. New York: Routledge. (Selections, TBA)
Reppen, J., Tucker, J., and Schulman, M. (2004) Way beyond Freud: postmodern psychoanalysis observed. London: Open Gate. (Selections, TBA)
Classes #7 and #8. Anthony Elliot. Subject to Ourselves
Elliott, A. (1996). Subject to ourselves. Cambridge: Polity/Blackwell