CRT6020

Critical theory: a theorist

Claire Colebrook

8 points -2 hours per week -First semester -Clayton

Objectives To introduce students to the difficult and commonly misunderstood writings of Luce Irigaray; to provide the conceptual, historical and logical tools necessary for a close reading of Irigaray's work; to provide the resources by which her contributions to feminist theory can be assessed in relation to other feminist theorists; to provide the critical and expressive resources to enable students to write clear, concise, accurate and independent essays on topics related to the reading.

Synopsis This subject will provide a detailed exploration of the work of a particular critical theorist, one of the key figures in contemporary French thought, the psychoanalyst, philosopher and linguist, Luce Irigaray. The subject will involve a detailed reading of the key texts of Irigaray, from her earliest publications in 1974 to her current writings. Irigaray has published broadly in a number of academic disciplines (including psychology, psychoanalysis, European philosophy, literature and linguistics) and covered a range of different issues (from questions in ontology and epistemology to key issues in economic exchange and theology). This subject will provide a rudimentary intellectual context to Irigaray's work, and then proceed chronologically from her earliest writings through to her most recent.

Assessment Two 3000-word essays: 50% each

Prescribed texts

Burke C and others (eds) Engaging with Irigaray Columbia U P, 1994
Grosz E Sexual subversions. Three French feminists Allen and Unwin, 1989
Irigaray L Speculum of the other woman Cornell U P, 1985
Irigaray L This sex which is not one Cornell U P, 1985
Irigaray L Marine lover: of Freidrich Nietzsche Columbia U P, 1991
Irigaray L Sexes and genealogies Columbia U P, 1993
Irigaray L Je. tous. nous: Toward a culture of difference Routledge, 1993
Irigaray L Elemental passions Routledge, 1992
Irigaray L An ethics of sexual difference Cornell U P, 1993
Whitford M (ed.) The Irigaray reader Basil Blackwell, 1991
Whitford M Luce Irigaray, philosophy in the feminine Routledge, 1991

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