B6444 - Studies in Literature and Philosophy (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students will have acquired the theoretical and practical conceptual framework of the field of literature and philosophy studies, gaining a deep understanding of how philosophy and literature are two ways of reflection and expression of issues in common that can illuminate each other. At the end of the course, students will be expected to possess: (1) knowledge of key theories and texts for the study of the interdisciplinary field of literature and philosophy, including philosophical and aesthetic texts on the study of literature, rhetorical and literary approaches to philosophical texts and philosophical theories of literary criticism, as well as familiarity with exemplary historical connections with a particular focus on the German context; (2) the ability to analyze convergences and differences in the argumentative, representative, and performative modes of the two disciplinary approaches with a particular focus on the different uses and registers of language in one and the other disciplinary context, as well as the development of critical awareness in relation to both textual traditions and their ways of addressing issues of ethical, social, and political significance; (3) differentiated and convincing presentation and argumentation skills that produce an original point of view in the debate, starting from a critical analysis of both philosophical and literary texts.

Course contents

Melancholy and the longing for reference

This course follows the traces of melancholy as a phenomenon connected to the longing for reference in both texts in philosophy of language and literature. During the course, students will apprehend an important part of Western literary and philosophical reflection on questions regarding the nexus between language and (mostly) existential and (to a lesser extent) political questions. They will read and collectively interpret canonical and less canonical texts, and train their presentation and discussion skills.

Notoriously, Derrida states that the consciousness that there is no direct referent for our speech acts does not alleviate our longing for unity and direct contact. We might as well know that our words do not directly capture things as they are in themselves, but this does not help us with our urge to try to get in touch! While there are many ways to deal with this (not only postmodern) condition, this course focuses on the melancholic side of the coin and investigates how philosophy of language and literature have reflected on and staged the consequences of this loss of a fixed referent and fixed foundations in its pessimistic and violent versions.

We will trace the tradition of the linguistic turn back to one of its potential roots or affine forerunners, i.e., Early German Romanticism, see how similar constellations were discussed and expressed in Modernism, and finally engage with more openly postmodern texts. We will eventually end on more optimistic tones (with Judith Butler) that stress the spaces of agency that open up when not being determined by a fixed reference scheme. More in detail, we will first collectively read and interpret a pertinent passage from Derrida’s Grammatology, then focus on the historical context of Early German Romanticism by reading selected fragments of Friedrich Schlegel’s programmatic, theoretic texts, complemented by Hegel’s critique of this sort of outset. Following this, we will engage with the novel Nightwatches of Bonaventura, which has been praised as being the “summa of Romanticism and Anti-romanticism,” to take stock of the possibilities and downsides of Early German Romantic thought and art. We will then focus on Modernism, reading first select passages from Nietzsche’s Twilight of the Idols, followed by Hofmannsthal’s programmatic texts for the Sprachkrise (crisis of language/language skepticism typical of Vienna Modernism). We will then read Borges’ “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius,” which functions as a springboard to the postmodern context, starting with Baudrillard. We will then focus on the violent twist that this urge for reference can take in Ellis’ American Psycho, followed by the entanglement of this sort of (violent) melancholy with further reasons for existential void, namely the Holocaust in Hermann’s text “Red Corals.” We will end with Butler, who shows that falling into existential void and despair is not the only way to deal with this condition – though it certainly is the one that this course puts its lens on.

Provisional Lecture Schedule:

First week: General introduction to the topic, assignment of topics to the students, Derrida and the longing for reference.

Second week: Early German romanticism, Schlegel, Hegel, Bonaventura.

Third week: Modernism: Nietzsche, Hofmannsthal, Borges.

Forth week: Postmodernism: Baudrillard, Ellis.

Fifth week. Postmodernism: Hermann, Butler, evaluation of the course.

 

Detailed programme with assignments:

12.2. Introduction «Philosophy and literary studies»

13.2.: Introduction «Melancholy»

14.2.: Derrida «that dangerous supplement» Gabriele

19.2: Schlegel «fragments» (esp. Literary aphorisms nr. 42, 108, and fragments from the Athenäum nr. 116, 216, 238)- Dagmar

20.2.: Schlegel on «Incomprehensibility» Liv + Emilia

+ Bonaventura Nightwatches - Diego

21.2.: Bonaventura II Magnus

26.2.: Nietzsche: On truth and lies in a nonmoral sense - Benjamin, parts of Twilight of the Idols («Reason in philosophy» + «How the ‘real’ world finally became a fable»)

27.2. Hofmannsthal: «Lord Chandos letter» (if there is time: «Tale of the 672° night») Fanni

28.2. Borges: «Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius» Bartosz + Victor

5.3. Borges II, recap, open questions

6.3. Baudrillard: «The precession of Simulacra» Nancy + Martha

7.3. Ellis: American Psycho Valerio + Sarah

12.3. Hermann: «The Red Coral Bracelet» Pari

13.3. Butler: «Imitation and Gender Insubordination» Alice + Tommaso + evaluation of the course

14.3. Conclusion, open questions

Readings/Bibliography

A:

J. Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulations, trans. by F. S. Glaser, University of Michigan Press 1994; to study is the chapter "The Precession of Simulacra".

J. Butler, Imitation and Gender Insubordination, In: The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader, edited by H. Abelove, M. A. Barale, and D. M. Halperin, Routledge 1993, pp. 307-320.

J. Derrida, Of Grammatology, 40^th anniversary edition, trans. by G. C. Spivak, intr. by J. Butler, Johns Hopkins University Press 2016; to study is the chapter “…That Dangerous Supplement…” (pp. 153-178).

F. Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols and the Anti-Christ, or How to Philosophize with a Hammer, trans. by R. J. Hollingdale, Penguin Classics 1990.

F. Schlegel, Dialogue on Poetry and Literary Aphorisms, trans. by E. Behler and R. Struc, Pennsylvania State University Press 1968; to study are the “literary aphorisms”: pp. 119-159. + the following text: F. Schlegel, Friedrich Schlegel’s Lucinde and the Fragments, trans. by P. Firchow, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press 1971; to study is the text “On Incomprehensibility”, pp. 259-271.

 

B:

J. L. Borges, Borges, a Reader, A Selection from the Writings of Jorge Luis Borges, transl. by A. Reid, E.P. Dutton 1981; to read is the short story “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius”, pp. 111-121.

B. E. Ellis, American Psycho, Vintage 1991.

J. Hermann, Summerhouse, later, Harper Collins 2001.

H. v. Hofmannsthal, The Lord Chandos Letter and Other Writings, trans. by Joel Rotenberg, New York Review Books 2004; to read are the texts “Tale of the 672^nd Night”, pp. 15-34, and “A Letter”, pp. 117-128.

E. A. F. Klingemann (Bonaventura), Nightwatches of Bonaventura, transl. by G. Gillespie, Chicago University Press 2014.

 

C: obligatory for non-attendees only, please choose one:

W. Lepenies, Melancholy and Society, trad. by J. Geines and D. L. Jones, Harvard University Press 1992.

J.-F. Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition, A Report on Knowledge, trad. by G. Bennington and B. Massumi, University of Minnesota Press 1984.

Teaching methods

At the beginning of each session, the professor introduces the session’s topic. Following this, one of the participants (or a small group of participants) will present the designated text for that session. The remaining time will be devoted to discussing the text and engaging in critical interpretation.

The texts to be presented will be uploaded online (on the platform Virtuale) in the second half of December. The exceptions are the texts by Ellis, Hermann, and Nietzsche, which the students should please find on their own. The presentations will be assigned to individual participants in the first session. Those with strong preferences can also contact the professor beforehand via email.

The course will provide ample opportunity for discussion at the end of the presentations offered by the individual participants. The main purpose of the course is the critical, collective interpretation of the texts. Individual seminars may be enriched by the participation of specialists on the text under scrutiny for that particular session.

Assessment methods

The final exam consists of two parts for students who attend the course in person, and one part for students who do not attend in person. Attendance of at least two-thirds of the meetings is required to be considered a “in person”-participant.

First part for attendees: Students are expected to give a short presentation of one of the texts from groups A and B in the bibliography during the course. They need to present the general line of argument of the text in case it is a philosophical text, or the structuring motifs of the text in case of literary readings. This counts for one-third (1/3) of the final grade. The aim of this presentation is to provide material for the debate (e.g., by formulating questions about unclear passages or highlighting particularly interesting points) and to motivate students to engage in the discussion.

Second part for attendees: The second part consists of an oral exam, where the students are expected to answer questions on two further texts from the reading list, with at least one from each groups A and B listed above. This counts for two-thirds (2/3) of the final grade. Therefore, students who attend the course in person need to study a total of 3 of the texts of the bibliography with at least one of each group A and B; one text needs to be presented in class, the other two need to be prepared for the oral exam.

Exam for non-attendees: oral exam in which the student needs to present knowledge of four texts from the bibliography above with at least 1 of each group, A, B, and C.

 

During the oral examination the professor will assess whether the student (attendees and non-attendees alike) has:

– knowledge of the texts and capacity to contextualize authors and works;

– comprehension of the fundamental concepts and capacity to provide a correct interpretation of them;

– clarity in the explanation of concepts and accuracy in the use of terminology;

– capacity to establish connections between the various authors and themes from both a historical and a conceptual point of view.

 

During the oral examination the professor will assess if the student possesses the abovementioned knowledge and skills in a (more or less) complete, precise and adequate way, or vice-versa in a (more or less) incomplete, vague and superficial way. The final grade will correspondently vary from excellent (30 and honors) to very good (30) to good (27-29) to fairly good (24-26) to more than enough (21-23) to merely enough (18-21) to unsatisfactory (<18).

 

Students with disabilities and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) Students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders have the right to special accommodations according to their condition, following an assessment by the Service for Students with Disabilities and SLD. Please do not contact the teacher but get in touch with the Service directly to schedule an appointment. It will be the responsibility of the Service to determine the appropriate adaptations. For more information, visit the page:

https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students

Teaching tools

Any supporting tools (e.g. slides) will be communicated during the course and will be made available among the course materials on the platform "virtuale".

Office hours

See the website of Yvonne Huetter-Almerigi