English 631-501, Fall 2008	Dr. Michael Filas
American Postmodernism	Office: Bates 07 ph. 572-5683
6:30-9:15, Mondays, Bates 123	Hours: Before and after class, TR 2:30-3:30, & by appointment mfilas@wsc.ma.edu  www.wsc.ma.edu/mfilas

Course Description:

We will read examples of theory and American literature that investigate the political and consumeristic alienation of our times. In the late twentieth century, in the decades following Vietnam and Watergate, theory got mighty paranoid about the first-world capitalist models of representation and what they might do to the individual's sense of identity. Postmodern theory argues that we're all hopelessly fragmented and cowed by corporate-controlled media saturation and a politics of inscription. Our identities and memories run no deeper than the flat surface of a TV or computer screen, or so the theory proposes.  Our study of American postmodernism will be based in theory, mostly French theory, and fiction and cultural fare from American writers and artists.

Required Fiction:

· Paul Auster. City of Glass. Penguin.

· Don Delillo. White Noise. Viking Critical Library.

· Philip K. Dick. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

· Joan Didion. Democracy. Vintage International.

· Art Spiegelman. Maus: My Father Bleeds History V1. Pantheon.

· Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Breakfast of Champions.

Required Theory:

· Jim Powell. Derrida for Beginners. Writers and Readers Publishing.

· Jean-Francois Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, University of Minessotta Press. 


· Jean Baudrillard. Simulations. Foreign Agents.

Additional Theory Provided in Course Reader:

Jameson, Fredric. “The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism.”

McHale, Brian. “Chinese Box Worlds.”

Althusser, Louis. “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses.”

Derrida, Jacques. “Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences.”

Rimmon-Kenan, Shlomith. Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics (excerpts).

De Man, Paul. “Semiology and Rhetoric.”

Waugh, Patricia. “Introduction to Postmodernism.”

Barthes, Roland. Mythologies (excerpts).

Tentative Schedule of Readings and Coursework:

DATE	HOMEWORK	CLASS PLAN
M 9/8/08	Read Breakfast of Champions (302 p); McHale (8 p).	Course intro.
M 9/15/08	Read Derrida for Beginners (177 p); Jameson (54 p).	Discuss Vonnegut & McHale; introduce Jameson.
M 9/22/08	Read White Noise (326 p).	Discuss Derrida & Jameson.
M 9/29/08	Read Baudrillard, “The Precession of Simulacra.” (79 p); Maus I (159 p).	Discuss Delillo; introduce Baudrillard.
M 10/6/08	Read Lyotard (67 p).	Discuss Spiegelman & Baudrillard.
M 10/13/08	No class—Columbus Day
M 10/20/08	Read Democracy (234 p).	Discuss Lyotard.
M 10/27/08	Read Androids (244 p). Creative reflection proposal.	Discuss Didion.
M 11/03/08	Read City of Glass (203 p).	Discuss Dick. Discuss creative reflection ideas.
M 11/10/08	Creative reflection; final paper development.	Discuss Auster; view postmodern film.
M 11/17/08	Research and write	Creative reflection presentations; final paper theory/analysis idea workshop.
M 11/24/08	Research and write, revise.	Individual Conferences.
M 12/1/08		Mini conference presentations.
M 12/8/08	Last class, papers due.	Mini conference presentations.

Course Requirements & Grading:

20%     One theory précis & presentation (500 words, 10 minute presentation)

20%     Two literature analyses (500 words, 10% per analysis)

10%     One creative reflection (500 words)

30%     Final paper (15 pages)

20%     Participation (includes attendance, theses [which are brief written talking points from the reading], oral presentations of final paper ideas & creative reflections, contributions to seminar discussions)

ENGL 631 AMERICAN POSTMODERNISM

COURSE READINGS

FILAS

1. Course Syllabus

2. Course Assignments (not including final paper)

3. McHale, Brian. “Chinese Box Worlds.”

4. Jameson, Fredric. “The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism.” 

5. Althusser, Louis. “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses.”

6. Derrida, Jacques. “Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences.”

7. Rimmon-Kenan, Shlomith. Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics (excerpts).

8. De Man, Paul. “Semiology and Rhetoric.”

9. Waugh, Patricia. “Introduction to Postmodernism.”

10. Barthes, Roland. Mythologies (excerpts).