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In this advanced seminar, we will explore what it means to read for skin. What happens when we take skin seriously as a subject of literary fiction and theory – not as a self-evident entity, but as a site where key questions in contemporary culture are played out? Why do we treat some meanings of skin as universal and others as particular? Is skin inward- or outward facing, a surface, a text, a boundary or a membrane? What happens when skin transforms, or fails? Drawing on (mostly recent) narrative anglophone fiction and selected theoretical texts (including affect theory, phenomenology, and postcolonial thought) we will seek to develop a shared vocabulary for thinking about skin that students can take into their own research projects. Among the primary texts I suggest for this course are Sarah Hall, The Electric Michelangelo; Julia Armfield, selection from Salt Slow; Claudia Rankine, Citizen (in excerpts); Nalo Hopkinson, selection from Skin Folk, as well as range of shorter texts samples from Mary Shelley to Nnedi Okorafor. In addition, this course entails a fair amount of theoretical reading. A detailed syllabus will be made available at the beginning of the summer term. Students will have to obtain their own copy of The Electric Michelangelo (available in paperback). Exam requirements: ALTE PRÜFUNGSORDNUNG: term paper, NEUE PRÜFUNGSORDNUNG: portfolio. If in doubt, please check which exam regulations apply to you. Detailed requirements will be communicated at the beginning of the term. |
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