Hum 90-11; CRN 6928
4 Credits
MWF 11:10-12:00
Professor Adriana Novoa
At a time when experiences are becoming less and less concrete - more virtual,
in fact - only total intersubjectivity, only the awareness of specific
concreteness and physicality, can provide a new impetus . . . The body must be
talked about once more; not physically but emotionally; not superficially but
mentally; not as an ideal but in all its vulnerability.
Roland Nachtigaller and Nicola von Velsen ed., Documenta IX
The aim of this course is to study the meaning of the human body in our society
from two directions. During the first part of the semester, we will study self-
mutilation and tattooing to understand its present meaning; over the second
part we will reflect on the work of artists who use their bodies as narratives
that reflect on our notions of identity and self.
The meaning of the human body has been transformed by contemporary
culture. In everything from new developments in science and technology,
to the emergence of a new critical theory of culture, we can observe an
exploration into the limits of what it is human, and what is the relationship
between physicality and reality. The development of new identities that are
fluid and are represented in multi-perspective narratives are part of our
culture today, together with a renewed interest in the body as a work of art,
and of an art that reveals the meaning of the body.
Course Materials:
Selections from the following books will be used over the semester.
Jane Blocker, Ana Mendieta ,Where Is Ana Mendieta?: Identity,
Performativity, and Exile
Rebecca Schneider, The Explicit Body in Performance
Peggy Phelan, Unmarked: The Politics of Performance
Coco Fusco, The Bodies That Were Not Ours: And Other Writings
Coco Fusco, English Is
Broken Here: Notes on Cultural Fusion in the Americas
Guillermo Gomez-Pena, Dangerous
Border Crossers: The Artist Talks Back
Coco Fusco, Corpus Delecti: Performance Art of the Americas
Kellie Jones, Lorna Simpson, Amelia Jones, Body Art/Performing the Subject
Rasheed Araeen, Sean
Cubitt, Ziauddin Sardar, Third Text Reader on Art, Culture and Theory: Art,
Culture, and Theory
Identity and Alterity. Figures of
the Body 1895-1995 Documenta IX.
Victoria Pitts, In the Flesh: The Cultural Politics of Body Modification
V. Vale, Reesearch, Re/Search #12: Modern Primitives
Kathlyn Gay, Christine Whittington, Body Marks: Tattooing, Piercing, and
Scarification (Single Titles)
Rosemary Betterton, An
Intimate Distance: Women, Artists and the Body
Sara Ahmed, Jackie Stacey,
Thinking Through the Skin (Transformations)
Janet Price, Margrit Shildrick, Feminist Theory and the Body: A Reader
Katie Conboy, Nadia Medina, Sarah Stanbury, Writing on the Body
Elizabeth Grosz, Space, Time and Perversion : Essays on the Politics of
Bodies
Judith P. Butler, Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of "SexÓ
There will also be additional visual materials to analyze during class.
Required assignments
This is a discussion course. Students should come to class prepared to discuss
the assignments and present their analysis of the material.
Graded work will include:
1- Three papers.
2- Web discussion of the materials presented in class.
3- One informal presentation in front of the class.
4- Participation in class discussion.
Dr. Adriana Novoa was born, raised, and trained as a historian in Buenos
Aires, Argentina, before coming to the United States to pursue her Ph.D. in
Latin American History at the University of California, San Diego. Since
completing her doctorate, she has had a diverse career, with her most recent
appointment as Assistant Professor of Humanities and American Studies at the
University of South Florida. Her publications and ongoing scholarly efforts
target the connection between race, gender, and national identity. She is also
interested in the concept and politics of disappearance.