HHIS-425: Rethinking Feminism & Identity

Rethinking Feminism & Identity (Frankenstein's Monster Among Others) "I'm a strange new kind of inbetween thing aren't I not at home with the dead not with the living" -Sophokles, Antigone (trans. Anne Carson) "24 September 2008: Ginger died this morning of kidney failure. She was eleven years old. She was a small, dainty, feral, tortoise shell Cape Cod cat who hung out in my yard and sunned herself on my doorstep, seducing me from a distance. Getting preggers and knowing a soft touch when she saw one, she adopted me in April 1998 in order to give her kids a home. She was a good stay-at-home mom and a good friend. She kept me alive through some very difficult times. I wish I could have done the same for her." -Adrian Piper, "Ginger: 1997-2008" "Some ejaculate does taste like celery, yes. However literature does not taste like anything." -Ariana Reines, Mercury Do we become, are we born, or are we constructed as women? What is the relevance of such a question in relation to any understanding of feminism now? Using several historical as well as recent texts (from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to Hilton Als' White Girls, through works by Shulamith Firestone, Valerie Solanas, and Beatriz Preciado), we will consider the changing critical/theoretical dynamics of feminism-as a way of thinking/being/doing "between" bodies and species. Although, we have organized the course around the discipline of art and our examples-case studies-will be drawn from the last 40 years or so of art-making, we expect the dialogue produced in class to range over many disciplines (design, filmmaking, etc.) and socio-economic concerns (sexuality, gender, biopolitics, and ecology). We will want to address what feminism smells like, what it tastes like, and how it causes a stink. There will be weekly assignments, at least one cogent presentation, and a final critical paper required for all participants-in order to engage fully with the readings and visual materials presented. The class is open to Grad Art, MDP, and advanced undergraduates.