Module Identifier |
FRM0230 |
Module Title |
LITERATURE AND EVIL: TRANSGRESSION AND THE AVANT-GARDE |
Academic Year |
2005/2006 |
Co-ordinator |
Dr Andrew J Hussey |
Semester |
Semester 2 |
Course delivery |
Lecture | |
Assessment |
Assessment Type | Assessment Length/Details | Proportion |
Semester Exam | 3 Hours | 60% |
Semester Assessment | Continuous Assessment: Essay of 2500 words plus commentary of 1500 words on a set text | 40% |
|
Learning outcomes
On completion of this module students will be able to:
-
articulate and show awareness of the main debates around the notion of 'transgression'
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describe key theories of 'transgression'
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relate these theories to twentieth-century critical thinking on the relationship between texts and 'textuality'
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offer critical analysis of primary and secondary texts
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use secondary literature with an appropriate level of sophistication
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acquire and demonstrate analytical skill
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demonstrate a sophisticated grasp of the relationship between form and content
Those students who wish to go on with their studies should be able to demonstrate that they have a solid foundation for postgraduate research.
Brief description
The notion of 'transgression' is a central theme in French twentieth-century literature related to avant-garde theory. More specifically it is a term which for many French theorists has changed meaning through the course of the century as criticism and critical theory has sought to establish new modules of thought and behaviour. The aim of this module is to examine and analyse the shifting meaning of this term in a selection of texts which engage with specific historical or philosophical debates in avant-garde circles. The theme of transgression will therefore be studied with regard to the novelistic practice of Georges Bataille, Jean Genet, Michel Houellebecq alongside articles by key critics and commentators.
Content
week 1: Evil words: Transgression and the Avant-Garde: an introduction
week 2: 'The Cut': Reading Bataille's 'Histoire de l'oeil'
week 3: 'Visions of Excess': The case of Madame Edwarda
week 4: 'Bataille apres tout': Bataille in critical context
week 5: 'Je nomme violence une audace...': Genet and the cult of inversion
week 6: Bataille's reading of 'Le Journal du Voleur'
week 7: Derrida' reading of 'Le Journal du Voleur'
week 8: 'L'Animal Omega': The Moral Universe of Michel Houellebecq
week 9: 'Standard regime': Houellebecq as poet and prophet
week 10: Post-modern fictions
week 11: Student presentations and Conclusions (two sessions)
Reading Lists
Books
Patrick ffrench (1995) The Time of Theory
Clarendon Press
Philippe Forest (1995) Histoire de Tel Quel
Editions du Seuil
Martin Jay (1994) Downcast Eyes
University of California Press
Pierre-Jean Jouve (1985) Vagadu
Gallimard
Jerome Peignot (ed.) (1978) Laure, Ecrits, fragments, lettres
Jean-Jacques Pauvert
Michel Leiris (1988) L'Age d'homme
Gallimard
Georges Bataille (1982) Histoire de l'oeil
Gallimard
Elisabeth Barille (1997) Laure, La Sainte de l'abime
Flammarion
Maurice Blanchot (1955) L'Espace litteraire
Gallimard
Jacques Derrida (1967) De la Grammatologie, p. 214
Gallimard
Jacques Derrida (1987) Psyche, Inventions de l'autre
Galilee
Georges Bataille (1982) Madame Edwarda
Gallimard
Georges Bataille (1957) La Litterature et le mal
Gallimard
Malcolm Bowie (1976) 'La Crue de L. Finas' in French Studies, no. 30, pp. 496-497
Jacques Derrida 'De l'economie restreinte a l'economie generale: un hegelianisme sans reserves' in L'Arc, 32 (1967), pp.24-24. Reprinted in L'Ecriture et la difference in Editions du Seuil, 1967, pp.369-409
Andrew Hussey (2000) The Inner Scar: The Mysticism of Georges Bataille
Rodopi
Susan Rubin Suleiman (1986) 'Pornography, Transgression and the Avant-garde: Bataille's Story of the Eye' in The Poetics of Gender, ed. Nancy K. Miller, pp. 117-38
Columbia University Press
Jean Genet (1978) Le Journal du Voleur
Gallimard
Jeanette L. Savona (1979) Jean Genet
Macmillan
Jacques Derrida (1974) Glas
Galilee
Bettina L. Knap (1968) Jean Genet
Columbia University Press
Georges Bataille (1957) 'Genet' in La Litterature et le mal
Gallimard
Michel Houellebecq (1998) Les Particules Elementaires
Flammarion
Michel Houellebecq (1996) Rester Vivant
Flammarion
Andrew Hussey Animal Omega: The Dubious Moral Universe of Michel Houellebecq, Planet 142, pp. 22-32
Michel Onfray 'L'ecriture est une fete' Revue Perpendiculaire 4, pp. 5-12
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 7