Earlham College, Spring Semester 2002-2003
Tuesday, Friday 2:30-3:50. Carpenter 322
Instructor: Ferit Güven
Office: Carpenter 331
Office Hours: Wednesday 11:00-12:00, Friday, 11:00-12:00 and by appointment
Office Phone: 983-1399 (voice mail)
e-mail: guvenfe@earlham.edu
web page: http://www.earlham.edu/~guvenfe/
 

Course Description: This course will introduce you to selected topics in Postcolonial Theory.  After a general introduction to the issues and problems within the field of postcolonial theory, we will investigate some of the philosophical presuppositions of these discussions. Even though this part of the course will focus primarily on philosophy it aims to incorporate an interdisciplinary perspective, and address questions raised in other disciplines such as anthropology, politics, and history. Our general question will be how philosophical discourse influences interactions among cultures. Specifically, I want to investigate the relationship between Modern philosophy and European Colonialism. What conceptual backgrounds inform particular ways of understanding culture? Is European philosophy necessarily a "dominating" discourse? Finally, how can one understand "our" current preoccupation with multiculturalism and pluralism in light of history? Even though Colonialism is not considered to be "popular" anymore as descriptive term, according to some scholars, it still determines the relationship between the West and the East. In this course we will learn the historical, political, social and ethical background of Colonialism and Orientalism in order to assess how much they are still very much at work today. At a time when the Western countries feel the need, and even willingness to learn about other cultures, and their ways of thinking, a study of how different cultures interacted in the past is inevitable. Not only has the West defined the East as its Other, and constituted its identity in opposition to the East, but also the knowledge the West produced about the East became a tool for the East to understand its own identity in the form of "self-colonization." There is, therefore, a very difficult question of representation to be addressed. How is the East represented in the West? How do so called "scientific and scholarly" works contribute to the formation of concrete policies? The general aim of this course is to investigate how very complex social, political, historical and philosophical ideas contribute to the ways in which we perceive those who are other than us.

Required Texts: (available in the Earlham College bookstore)
Leela Gandhi, Postcolonial Theory: A Critical Introduction, (New York: Columbia University, 1998)
Michel Foucault. Discipline and Punishment, (New York: Vintage Books, 1979)
Edward Said. Orientalism, (New York: Vintage Books, 1978)
Frantz Fanon, Black Skin White Masks, (New York: Grove Press, 1967)

In addition to these texts, the following material will be on reserve at the Lilly Library:
G.W.F. Hegel, "Independence and Dependence of Self-Consciousness: Lordship and Bondage" from Phenomenology of Sprit
Jacques Derrida, "Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences" from Writing and Difference; "Differance" from Margins of Philosophy; "The Crisis in the Teaching of Philosophy" from Who's Afraid of Philosophy?
Gayatri Spivak, "Can the Subaltern Speak?" from Colonial Discourse and Postcolonial Theory
Homi Bhabha, "Interrogating Identity: Frantz Fanon and the postcolonial prerogative"; "The Other Question: Stereotype, discrimination and the discourse of colonialism"; "Of Mimicry and Man: The ambivalence of colonial discourse" from The Location of Culture
 
 
 

Course Requirement and Evaluation:
You are expected to write two short papers (5-6 page) and one long paper (10-12 page). I will provide paper topics for each assignment. You are also allowed to decide on your own topic provided that you discuss your topic with me at least a week before the deadline. Along with the paper topics I will also provide specific guidelines for each topic. Besides this, for every paper (including papers on topics of your own choice) you are responsible for following the general guidelines provided. (See "Comments and Suggestions for Papers").

For each week, one student will prepare a two paged (single-spaced) protocol of the material discussed during the previous week. A protocol is a carefully edited summary of the previous class sessions written in full sentences.  Protocols will be photocopied by the student who wrote it and handed out to all students at the beginning of each Tuesday to be read aloud, and will serve as a cumulative record of the course. The student who prepares the protocol will be required to come to class a couple of minutes early, so that the protocols will have been distributed at the beginning of the class (i.e., at 2:30). In addition to reviewing the material covered in the previous class, the protocol should include announcements made in class, questions raised, and, if possible, future questions for the material to come. The best protocols will be those that do not simply reproduce word for word everything that was said during class, but those that rearrange the material thematically, editing out what was unimportant, and emphasizing what was significant. The point of this is to allow you to think during class, and not just take notes; because someone will be taking notes for you, you can concentrate on the ideas being presented, and participate without having to write constantly. Also you will have a summary of every class which will help you with writing papers.

You will also be required to write a review of one of the films we watch throughout the semester.  These reviews will analyze the films in light of the texts we read.  I will give you specific guidelines for this assignment

Your grade will be calculated according to the following distribution:
Paper I: 20%,
Paper II: 20%,
Paper III: 30,
Protocol: 10%,
Film Review: 10%
Class Participation and Attendance: 10%.
 

Class participation and attendance:

This course will be conducted in a seminar format.  Therefore, attandance and participation are important dimensions of the course and your grade.  I expect you to come to class prepared and ready to participate, i.e., having read the text carefully, and ready to raise and answer questions.

Office hours are for students to discuss ideas, assignments and questions. You are encouraged and welcome to come by my office or make appointments for times other than scheduled office hours. You should take advantage of office hours and appointments not simply to discuss your papers (you are obviously welcome to do that too) but also to understand ideas, and texts discussed in class.

Any student with a documented disability (e.g., physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the instructor and Disability Services Office (Academic Support Services) at the beginning of the semester. Accommodation arrangements must be made during the first-two weeks of the semester.

Calendar:
There may be some modifications to this calender. It is your responsibility to be aware of these changes. These changes may be announced in class. If you miss a class you should make sure that you are informed about the assignments for the next session.

Week 1:
January 17: Introduction

Week 2:
January 21: Gandhi, Postcolonial Theory
January 24: Gandhi, Postcolonial Theory

Week 3:
January 28: Hegel, "Independence and Dependence of Self-Consciousness: Lordship and Bondage"
January 31: Hegel, "Independence and Dependence of Self-Consciousness: Lordship and Bondage"

Week 4:
February 4: Foucault, Discipline and Punish
February 7: Foucault, Discipline and Punish

Week 5:
February 11: Foucault, Discipline and Punish
February 14: Foucault, Discipline and Punish

Week 6:
February 18:Derrida, "Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences"; 1st Paper due
February 21: No Class; Midsemester Break

Week 7:
February 25: Derrida, "Differance"
February 28: Derrida, "The Crisis in the Teaching of Philosophy"

Week 8:
March 4: Said, Orientalism
March 7: Said, Orientalism

Week 9:
March 11: Said, Orientalism
March 14: Said, Orientalism; 2nd Paper due

March 18-21: Spring Break

Week 10:
March 25: Spivak, "Can the Subaltern speak?"
March 28: Spivak, "Can the Subaltern speak?"

Week 11:
April 1: Fanon, Black Skin White Masks,
April 4: Fanon, Black Skin White Masks,

Week 12:
April 8:   Fanon, Black Skin White Masks,
April 11: Fanon, Black Skin White Masks,

Week 13:
April 15: Bhabha, "Interrogating Identity: Frantz Fanon and the postcolonial prerogative"
April 18: Bhabha, "The Other Question: Stereotype, discrimination and the discourse of colonialism."

Week 14:
April 22: Bhabha, "The Other Question: Stereotype, discrimination and the discourse of colonialism."
April 25: Bhabha, "Of Mimicry and Man: The ambivalence of colonial discourse."

Week 15:
April 29: Review
May 2: Evaluation; Final Paper Due