Katerina Kolozova
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231166102
- eISBN:
- 9780231536431
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231166102.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This book reclaims the relevance of categories traditionally rendered “unthinkable” by postmodern feminist philosophies, such as “the real,” “the one,” “the limit,” and “finality,” thus critically ...
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This book reclaims the relevance of categories traditionally rendered “unthinkable” by postmodern feminist philosophies, such as “the real,” “the one,” “the limit,” and “finality,” thus critically repositioning poststructuralist feminist philosophy and gender/queer studies. It follows François Laruelle's nonstandard philosophy and the work of Judith Butler, Drucilla Cornell, Luce Irigaray, and Rosi Braidotti. It argues that poststructuralist (feminist) theory sees the subject as a purely linguistic category, as multiple, nonfixed, and fluctuating, as something for limitless discursivity and as constitutively detached from the instance of the real. It goes on to argue that this re-conceptualization is based on the exclusion of and dichotomous opposition to notions of the real, the one (unity and continuity) and the stable. It makes the case that the non-philosophical reading of postructuralist philosophy engenders new forms of universalisms for global debate and action, and that these can be expressed in a language the world can understand. It also liberates theory from ideological paralysis, recasting the real as an immediately experienced human condition determined by gender, race, and social and economic circumstances.Less
This book reclaims the relevance of categories traditionally rendered “unthinkable” by postmodern feminist philosophies, such as “the real,” “the one,” “the limit,” and “finality,” thus critically repositioning poststructuralist feminist philosophy and gender/queer studies. It follows François Laruelle's nonstandard philosophy and the work of Judith Butler, Drucilla Cornell, Luce Irigaray, and Rosi Braidotti. It argues that poststructuralist (feminist) theory sees the subject as a purely linguistic category, as multiple, nonfixed, and fluctuating, as something for limitless discursivity and as constitutively detached from the instance of the real. It goes on to argue that this re-conceptualization is based on the exclusion of and dichotomous opposition to notions of the real, the one (unity and continuity) and the stable. It makes the case that the non-philosophical reading of postructuralist philosophy engenders new forms of universalisms for global debate and action, and that these can be expressed in a language the world can understand. It also liberates theory from ideological paralysis, recasting the real as an immediately experienced human condition determined by gender, race, and social and economic circumstances.
Catherine Belsey
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748633012
- eISBN:
- 9780748652235
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748633012.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Shakespeare Studies
The chapters in this book put theory to work in order to register Shakespeare's powers of seduction, together with his moment in history. Teasing out the meanings of the narrative poems, as well as ...
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The chapters in this book put theory to work in order to register Shakespeare's powers of seduction, together with his moment in history. Teasing out the meanings of the narrative poems, as well as some of the more familiar plays, the book demonstrates the possibilities of an attention to textuality that also draws on the archive. A reading of the Sonnets, written specially for the book, analyses their intricate and ambivalent inscription of desire. Between them, these chapters trace the progress of theory in the course of three decades, while a new introduction offers a narrative and analytical overview, from a participant's perspective, of some of its key implications. The book shows how texts can offer access to the dissonances of the past when theory finds an outcome in practice. It provides a demonstration of poststructuralist theory at work.Less
The chapters in this book put theory to work in order to register Shakespeare's powers of seduction, together with his moment in history. Teasing out the meanings of the narrative poems, as well as some of the more familiar plays, the book demonstrates the possibilities of an attention to textuality that also draws on the archive. A reading of the Sonnets, written specially for the book, analyses their intricate and ambivalent inscription of desire. Between them, these chapters trace the progress of theory in the course of three decades, while a new introduction offers a narrative and analytical overview, from a participant's perspective, of some of its key implications. The book shows how texts can offer access to the dissonances of the past when theory finds an outcome in practice. It provides a demonstration of poststructuralist theory at work.
Susan Zimmerman
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748621033
- eISBN:
- 9780748652198
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748621033.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, Shakespeare Studies
This chapter presents a further speculation on how Walter Benjamin's Trauerspiel elucidates the interdependent relationship between poststructuralist theory and historicist analysis. The ‘homeland’ ...
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This chapter presents a further speculation on how Walter Benjamin's Trauerspiel elucidates the interdependent relationship between poststructuralist theory and historicist analysis. The ‘homeland’ of the Trauerspiel is the indeterminate corpse. It seems particularly interesting that Benjamin conceives of the problem of materiality as developed in the Trauerspiel as conjunctive with that of Christianity. Benjamin's genius for forcing new angles of vision can be divined in the suggestive connections between the Dance of Death and puppetry. It has been concluded that although the homeland of Shakespeare's theatre must be reconstituted in terms of its own cultural determinants, there is equally compelling reason to view it from positions outside this historical framework – to multiply frames of reference, and by so doing to discover new angles of vision.Less
This chapter presents a further speculation on how Walter Benjamin's Trauerspiel elucidates the interdependent relationship between poststructuralist theory and historicist analysis. The ‘homeland’ of the Trauerspiel is the indeterminate corpse. It seems particularly interesting that Benjamin conceives of the problem of materiality as developed in the Trauerspiel as conjunctive with that of Christianity. Benjamin's genius for forcing new angles of vision can be divined in the suggestive connections between the Dance of Death and puppetry. It has been concluded that although the homeland of Shakespeare's theatre must be reconstituted in terms of its own cultural determinants, there is equally compelling reason to view it from positions outside this historical framework – to multiply frames of reference, and by so doing to discover new angles of vision.
Geraldine Harris
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719074585
- eISBN:
- 9781781701010
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719074585.003.0010
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Television
This chapter summarizes some well-rehearsed debates from the early to mid-twentieth century, concerning realism and naturalism in television drama and the impact on those debates of poststructuralist ...
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This chapter summarizes some well-rehearsed debates from the early to mid-twentieth century, concerning realism and naturalism in television drama and the impact on those debates of poststructuralist and postmodern theory. This lays the ground for a more complex discussion of the assumptions about form, subjectivity and identity, production and reception that were produced on the way. Such issues help identify limitations and problems within the postmodern, ‘post-Marxist’ approaches that often dominated television criticism in the 1990s. The relationship between politics and aesthetics was most often defined through reference to the Marxist-socialist tradition and more specifically to the work of theatre practitioner and theorist Bertolt Brecht. Brecht famously developed a critique of what he termed ‘Aristotelian’ or ‘dramatic theatre’, which he defined as offering an illusion of reality that conformed to the ideology of the parasitic bourgeoisie. Usually understood as an attack on naturalism and/or realism, Brecht's analysis of this aesthetic embraced all aspects of production including illusionist staging, linear narratives, psychologically motivated characterisation and naturalistic acting.Less
This chapter summarizes some well-rehearsed debates from the early to mid-twentieth century, concerning realism and naturalism in television drama and the impact on those debates of poststructuralist and postmodern theory. This lays the ground for a more complex discussion of the assumptions about form, subjectivity and identity, production and reception that were produced on the way. Such issues help identify limitations and problems within the postmodern, ‘post-Marxist’ approaches that often dominated television criticism in the 1990s. The relationship between politics and aesthetics was most often defined through reference to the Marxist-socialist tradition and more specifically to the work of theatre practitioner and theorist Bertolt Brecht. Brecht famously developed a critique of what he termed ‘Aristotelian’ or ‘dramatic theatre’, which he defined as offering an illusion of reality that conformed to the ideology of the parasitic bourgeoisie. Usually understood as an attack on naturalism and/or realism, Brecht's analysis of this aesthetic embraced all aspects of production including illusionist staging, linear narratives, psychologically motivated characterisation and naturalistic acting.
Mark Chiang
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814717004
- eISBN:
- 9780814790014
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814717004.003.0003
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
This chapter discusses the debates over the impact of postmodern and poststructuralist theory in Asian American studies in a special issue of the journal Amerasia, entitled Thinking Theory in Asian ...
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This chapter discusses the debates over the impact of postmodern and poststructuralist theory in Asian American studies in a special issue of the journal Amerasia, entitled Thinking Theory in Asian American Studies. Even though this debate concerned theoretical paradigms and methods, essays in the issue—whether pro or con—justified positions based on political criteria rather than on intellectual or academic criteria. Thus, the debate over theory was overdetermined by two somewhat different sets of dynamics: political struggles in the Asian American field and academic struggles in the university. This convergence constituted Asian American studies. As such, it allowed the field to contain multiple, overlapping political and intellectual antagonisms.Less
This chapter discusses the debates over the impact of postmodern and poststructuralist theory in Asian American studies in a special issue of the journal Amerasia, entitled Thinking Theory in Asian American Studies. Even though this debate concerned theoretical paradigms and methods, essays in the issue—whether pro or con—justified positions based on political criteria rather than on intellectual or academic criteria. Thus, the debate over theory was overdetermined by two somewhat different sets of dynamics: political struggles in the Asian American field and academic struggles in the university. This convergence constituted Asian American studies. As such, it allowed the field to contain multiple, overlapping political and intellectual antagonisms.
Celia Britton
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781781380369
- eISBN:
- 9781781387214
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781781380369.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature
At the intersection of postcolonial and feminist theory, much has been written on the discursive agency of postcolonial women in fiction and autobiography. A humanist model emphasizing lack of self, ...
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At the intersection of postcolonial and feminist theory, much has been written on the discursive agency of postcolonial women in fiction and autobiography. A humanist model emphasizing lack of self, ‘voicelessness’ and ‘coming to voice’ has been to some extent superseded by a poststructuralist approach, itself modified to allow for agency: a subject constructing herself in discourse by exploiting the divisions within the plurality of discourses that especially characterizes postcolonial or creolized societies. But Maximin's novel, with its male author and female protagonist, conforms to neither of these models: rather, it shows an ‘empty’ female subject transforming lack and loss into lightness and mobility and thus a positive form of resistance. Having nothing means having nothing to lose, and you survive the hurricane by letting it blow through you. This conception of subjectivity evokes Lacan's aphanisis: a ‘flickering’ presence, slipping from one anonymous pronoun to another and hollowed out by the eye of the hurricane boring into her like the Lacanian gaze.Less
At the intersection of postcolonial and feminist theory, much has been written on the discursive agency of postcolonial women in fiction and autobiography. A humanist model emphasizing lack of self, ‘voicelessness’ and ‘coming to voice’ has been to some extent superseded by a poststructuralist approach, itself modified to allow for agency: a subject constructing herself in discourse by exploiting the divisions within the plurality of discourses that especially characterizes postcolonial or creolized societies. But Maximin's novel, with its male author and female protagonist, conforms to neither of these models: rather, it shows an ‘empty’ female subject transforming lack and loss into lightness and mobility and thus a positive form of resistance. Having nothing means having nothing to lose, and you survive the hurricane by letting it blow through you. This conception of subjectivity evokes Lacan's aphanisis: a ‘flickering’ presence, slipping from one anonymous pronoun to another and hollowed out by the eye of the hurricane boring into her like the Lacanian gaze.
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9781846311093
- eISBN:
- 9781846313332
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781846311093.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter explores the obvious discrepancies between concepts of migration based on historical experiences and aestheticized theories. This link is examined through looking at two recent cultural ...
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This chapter explores the obvious discrepancies between concepts of migration based on historical experiences and aestheticized theories. This link is examined through looking at two recent cultural theorist works that attempt to bridge the gap between postmodern ‘travelling theory’ and postcolonial cultural politics, namely Paul Carter's Living in a New Country (1992) and Iain Chambers' Migrancy, Culture, Identity (1994). These works are examples of the new ‘migrant aesthetic’ that employs poststructuralist theories of displacement to account for migrating people, goods and ideas within the so-called New World Order. The usefulness of cultural theory in tackling the historical experiences of migration is also discussed. At its best, cultural theory can provide feasible methodologies to be used in the interrogation of the conceptual unevenness present in all forms of human representation.Less
This chapter explores the obvious discrepancies between concepts of migration based on historical experiences and aestheticized theories. This link is examined through looking at two recent cultural theorist works that attempt to bridge the gap between postmodern ‘travelling theory’ and postcolonial cultural politics, namely Paul Carter's Living in a New Country (1992) and Iain Chambers' Migrancy, Culture, Identity (1994). These works are examples of the new ‘migrant aesthetic’ that employs poststructuralist theories of displacement to account for migrating people, goods and ideas within the so-called New World Order. The usefulness of cultural theory in tackling the historical experiences of migration is also discussed. At its best, cultural theory can provide feasible methodologies to be used in the interrogation of the conceptual unevenness present in all forms of human representation.
Sally Hines
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781861349163
- eISBN:
- 9781447304074
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781861349163.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Gender and Sexuality
This chapter considers narratives of (trans)gender identity. It also proposes that findings from this research trouble feminist critiques of transgender practices. The chapter argues for a ...
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This chapter considers narratives of (trans)gender identity. It also proposes that findings from this research trouble feminist critiques of transgender practices. The chapter argues for a comprehensive incorporation of transgender experiences into future analyses of gender. The impact of a radical feminist attack on transgender practices was both personally and politically problematic for transgender men. It is suggested that the influence of poststructuralist theory and queer politics has encouraged contemporary feminism to pay greater attention to gender variance. The research shows that the gender of transition impacts upon participants' understandings of feminism. Gender has considerable bearing on the divergent experiences within feminist communities for transgender men and women during and after transition. It is suggested that, if attentive to gender diversity, contemporary feminism may provide a collective arena in which difference acts to produce a more extensive feminist knowledge.Less
This chapter considers narratives of (trans)gender identity. It also proposes that findings from this research trouble feminist critiques of transgender practices. The chapter argues for a comprehensive incorporation of transgender experiences into future analyses of gender. The impact of a radical feminist attack on transgender practices was both personally and politically problematic for transgender men. It is suggested that the influence of poststructuralist theory and queer politics has encouraged contemporary feminism to pay greater attention to gender variance. The research shows that the gender of transition impacts upon participants' understandings of feminism. Gender has considerable bearing on the divergent experiences within feminist communities for transgender men and women during and after transition. It is suggested that, if attentive to gender diversity, contemporary feminism may provide a collective arena in which difference acts to produce a more extensive feminist knowledge.
