Materialities of Culture

Recommended Prerequisites

English language proficiency level C1

Teaching Methods

Teaching methods are appropriate to a doctoral seminar: in essence, the aim is to create a space for dialogue and debate based both on lectures by the professor and presentations by students. Each session will be based on one or more reference texts, which will be made available at the beginning of the semester.

 

This methodology may be subject to minor changes depending on the instructor and number of students registered

Learning Outcomes

This seminar aims to provide elements for an analysis of language, culture and cultural history in terms of their materialities. It is expected that students: a) acquire greater competence in the use of the central concepts of cultural studies in articulation with language studies; b) become familiar with the most relevant references; and c) develop an autonomous capacity for research leading to the formulation and development of consistent projects.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

This course offers an opportunity for reflection on the concept of culture and of language in their articulation with issues of materiality. It is organized as a journey through various contexts of theoretical elaboration of that articulation, with the aim of developing a universe of consistent references that can serve as a basis for developing the particular research interests of students. Some of the stations on this route are: language, culture and modernity; the materiality of signs; the materiality of technical mediation; the materiality of industrial production and the market; the materiality of social institutions; the materiality of “things”; the materiality of the body and performance; the materiality of power.

 

N.B. The syllabus may change in different editions of the course.

Assessment Methods

Assessment
In-class participation, including one oral presentation: 20.0%
Research work: 80.0%

Bibliography

Alexander, Jeffrey C. (2010). “Iconic Consciousness: The Material Feeling of Meaning”, Thesis Eleven, 103(1), 10-25.

Bal, M. (2002). Travelling Concepts in the Humanities. A Rough Guide. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Butler, Judith (1993). Bodies that Matter. London: Routledge

Cheville, Julie 2006. The Bias of Materiality in Sociocultural Research: Reconceiving Embodiment. Mind Culture and Activity 13 (1), 25-37

Fanon, Frantz (1952). Peau Noire, Masques blancs. Paris: Le Seuil.

Hall, S. ed. (2010). Representation. Cultural Representation and Signifying Practices. London: Sage & Open University [1997].

Mbembe, Achille (2013). Critique de la raison nègre. Paris: Éditions la Découverte

Shankar, S., & Cavanaugh, J. (2017). Language and Materiality: Ethnographic and Theoretical Explorations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Yúdice, G. (2003). The Expediency of Culture. Uses of Culture in the Global Era. Durham & London: Duke UP.