German 391
Studies in German Theory I: Frankfurt School Theory and Beyond
Full course for one semester. This course explores a tradition of
cultural critique whose analytic rigor and interdisciplinary
breadth continue to exert a profound influence on contemporary
thought. First we will examine texts by Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud,
whose methods of uncovering the ideological or unconscious forces
operative in cultural phenomena informed the interpretive
frameworks developed by the Frankfurt School. We will then study
how, within these frameworks, thinkers associated with the
Frankfurt School re-imagined the ways that cultural phenomena are
embedded in social and political history, and in so doing
re-evaluated, transposed, or re-invented cultural and aesthetic
values. Readings from Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Benjamin, Lukács,
Adorno, Horkheimer, Arendt, Habermas, Althusser, and Foucault.
Conducted in English, but there will be an extra session in German
each week, using original texts, for those taking the course for
German credit. Conference. Cross-listed as Literature 391.
Top of Page
