CINE722 Narrative and Independent Tradition:

Aesthetics in Narrative

Focus on Aesthetics

Instructor:

Aaron Kerner

Office: FA536

Office Hours: TBA

Contact:

amkerner@sfsu.edu

http://online.sfsu.edu/~amkerner

Course Description: This course interrogates narrative traditions. The CINE722 course is designed to evaluate the tradition of independent and narrative filmmaking: narrative structure, European art cinema, Third cinema, and American independent cinema. This semester we will be focusing on how aesthetics manifests in these narrative traditions.

It is possible to argue that the project of modernity aimed to suppress the body and its senses. The governing positivist tradition ensured a denial (or disavowal) of the existence of human experiences (e.g., feelings, emotions, the sacred) that fall outside the paradigm of science (e.g., biology, physics), insisting that all human experiences might be reducible to empirical analysis.

Postmodernism in its reconsideration of modernist assumptions, has in part, repatriated the body and its senses; this, in fact, is one of the chief characteristics of post-structuralist theory. The course begins by surveying Immanuel Kant’s presentation of the aesthetic experience in his Critique of Judgment, and it is from this juncture that we can establish an understanding of the way in which the aesthetic experience is imparted to, and/or evoked by, cultural productions (e.g., art, music, film). Following this we arrive at the ideas of the contemporary theorist Julia Kristeva, whose conception of the “semiotic” and “abjection” might very well correspond to Kant’s discourse on aesthetics.

The course will be assessed on four criteria:

Weekly Questions: each student should prepare a series of questions that are intended to provoke discussion amongst the group. Prepare at least 4 typed questions. These questions should directly address the assigned reading material for the day. The intention is that these questions might be used to initiate dialogue in the classroom. These questions should be submitted to the instructor at the conclusion of each class meeting.
Discussion Leader: each student should assume the role as primary facilitator at least once during the semester. In this role, the student should – in addition to the requisite weekly questions – should have additional questions, prompts, video clips and/or some other material that will help to guide the class in a productive discussion of the course material. The student should consult with the instructor to coordinate the activities for the assigned class meeting.
Short Paper: each student is expected to write a 4-5 page paper on the subject of the aesthetic experience/beautiful. A prompt will be posted online. This will be due at the half-way mark of the semester (Session 8).
Long Research Paper: each student will write a 15-20 page paper on the subject drawn from the course material. The student should consult with the instructor about the content of the paper to ensure that the material is appropriate to the course. This should be submitted on the final class meeting (Session 16).

Weekly Questions:	20%
Discussion Leader:	20%
Short Paper:	20%
Long Research Paper:	40%

Reading is available online either through an electronic database or through electronic reserves. The password for electronic reserves is: TBA

Citation Method – Chicago Manual of Style:

For assistance with citations see the online version of Diana Hacker's A Pocket Style Manual.

Session 1 January 28th:

Screening:

Stalker, Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979

The Reflecting Skin, Philip Ridley, 1990

Reading/Audio Documentary:

“The Beauty Biz,” To the Best of Our Knowledge, December 28, 2008 (give specific attention to the episode featuring Umberto Eco – On Ugliness)

http://www.wpr.org/book/08book4.cfm#081228

“Overcome by Emotion,” Radio Lab, November 14, 2008

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2008/11/14/segments/113278

Session 2 February 4th:

Screening:

Cremaster 2, Matthew Barney, 1999

Beauty sequence from Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, Paul Schrader, 1985

Reading:

Donald W. Crawford, “Kant’s Analysis of the Judgement of Taste,” Kant’s Aesthetic Theory (Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1974), 29 – 57.

Immanuel Kant, “Analytic of the Beautiful,” trans. J. C. Meredith, in Immanuel Kant: Philosophical Writings, Ernst Behler, ed., (New York: Continuum, 1986), 160 – 200. Click here for article.

Session 3 February 11th:

Screening:

Blue, Derek Jarman, 1993

Reading:

Stuart Sim, “The Sublime,” Jean-François Lyotard (New York: Prentice Hall, 1996), 98 – 105. click here for the reading

Immanuel Kant, “Analytic of the Sublime,” trans. J. C. Meredith, in Immanuel Kant: Philosophical Writings, Ernst Behler, ed., (New York: Continuum, 1986), 201 – 223. Click here for article.

Session 4 February 18th:

Screening:

Rubber Johnny, Chris Cunningham, 2005

Windowlicker, Chris Cunningham, 1998

All Is Full of Love, Chris Cunningham, 1998

Flex, Chris Cunningham, 2000

Rampo Jingoku [Rampo Noir], 2005, 134 min. (Kagami Jigoku, Akio Jissoji, 2005)

Cremaster 1, Matthew Barney, 1996

Cremaster 4, Matthew Barney, 1995

Reading:

David Shier, “Why Kant Finds Nothing Ugly,” The British Journal of Aesthetics vol. 38, no. 4 (October 1998): 412 – 418. Available via Academic Search Premier or simply click here.

Christian Wenzel, “Why Kant Finds Nothing Ugly?” The British Journal of Aesthetics vol. 39, no. 4 (October 1999): 416 – 422. Available via Academic Search Premier or simply click here.

Ruth Lorand, “Beauty and Its Opposites,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism vol. 52, no. 4 (Fall 1994): 399 – 406. Available via JSTOR

Session 5 February 25th:

Screening:

Gummo, Harmony Korine, 1997

Reading:

Peter Uwe Hohendahl, “Aesthetic Violence: The Concept of the Ugly in Adorno's Aesthetic Theory,” Cultural Critique 60 (2005): 170 – 196. Available via Project Muse

Theodor Adorno, “On the Categories of the Ugly, the Beautiful, and Technique,” in Aesthetic Theory, Gretel Adorno and Rolf Tiedemann eds., and trans. Robert Hullot-Kentor (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1999), 45 – 61. Available via e-res

Session 6 March 4th:

Screening:

Freaks, Tod Browning, 1932

Reading:

Wolfgang Kayser, “The Grotesque: The Word and its Meaning,” The Grotesque: In Art and Literature, trans. Ulrich Weisstein (New York: Columbia, 1981), 19 – 28. Available via e-res

Mary Russo, “Freaks, Freak Orlando, Orlando,” The Female Grotesque: risk, excess and modernity (New York: Routledge, 1995), 75 – 106. Available via e-res

Session 7 March 11th:

Screening:

Begotten, E. Elias Merhige, 1991

Reading:

Leon S. Roudiez, "Translator Notes," in Desire in Language: A Semiotic Approach to Literature and Art , trans. Leon S. Roudiez, et al., Leon S. Roudiez ed. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1980), 12 - 20.

John Lechte, “Horror,” in Julia Kristeva (London: Routledge, 1991), 157 – 167. Available via e-res

Julia Kristeva, “Approaching Abjection,” in Powers of Horror: an essay on abjection, trans. Leon S. Roudiez (New York: Columbia University Press, 1982), 1 – 31. Available via e-res

“(So-Called) Life,” RadioLab, March 14, 2008 (listen specifically to the “Mix and Match” section featuring Karen Keegan’s story)

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2008/03/14

Session 8 March 18th:

Screening:

Office Killer, Cindy Sherman, 1997

Reading:

Laura Mulvey, “Cosmetics and Abjection: Cindy Sherman 1977-87,” in Fetishism and Curiosity (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996), 65 – 76. Available via e-res

John G. Hatch, “Cindy Sherman,” in Hans Bertens ed. and Joseph Natoli eds., Postmodernism: The Key Figures (Malden: Blackwell, 2002), 292-296. Available via e-res

Hal Foster, “Obscene, Abject, Traumatic,” October 78 (Autumn, 1996): 106 – 124. Available via JSTOR

NO CLASS March 25th

Session 9 April 1st

Discussion Leader: Linde Van Ittersum

Screening:

Window Water Baby Moving, Stan Brakhage, 1962

The Act of Seeing With One’s Own Eyes, Stan Brakhage, 1971

Gokushiteki erosu: Renka, Kazuo Hara, 1974 [Extreme Private Eros: Love Song 1974]

The Brood, David Cronenberg, 1979

Reading:

Linda Williams, “Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess,” Film Quarterly vol. 44, no. 4 (Summer 1991): 2 – 13. Available via JSTOR

Barbara Creed, “Woman as Monstrous Womb: The Brood,” in The Monstrous-Feminine: film, feminism, psychoanalysis (New York: Routledge, 1993), 43 – 58. Available via e-res

Session 10 April 8th

Discussion Leader: Melissa Bruno & Crescent Diamond

Screening:

Fuses, Carolee Schneemann, 1967

Removed, Naomi Uman, 1999

Womanhouse, Johanna Demetrakas, 1974

Reading:

Leslie C. Jones, “Transgressive Femininity: Art and Gender in the Sixties and Seventies,” in Abject Art: Repulsion and Desire in American Art, (New York: Whitney Museum, 1992-93), 33 – 57. Available via e-res

Linda Williams, “A Provoking Agent: The Pornography and Performance Art of Annie Sprinkle,” Social Text 37 (Winter 1993): 117 – 133. Available via JSTOR

Carolee Schneemann, “The Obscene Body/Politic,” Art Journal vol. 50, no. 4 (Winter, 1991): 28 – 35. Available via JSTOR

Session 11 April 15th

Discussion Leader: Alice Choe & Lares Feliciano

Screening:

Happiness, Todd Solondz, 1998

Reading:

Julia Kristeva, “From Filth to Defilement,” in Powers of Horror: an essay on abjection, trans. Leon S. Roudiez (New York: Columbia University Press, 1982), 56 – 89. Available via e-res

John Lechte, “CRIME, ABJECTION, TRANSGRESSION AND THE IMAGE,” unpublished paper. Click here for pdf.

Session 12 April 22nd

Discussion Leader: Michiko Kurokawa

Screening:

Go, Isao Yukisada, 2001

Soseji, Shinya Tsukamoto, 1999

Reading:

Julia Kristeva, “Might Not Universality Be … Our Own Foreignness?” and “In Practice,” in Strangers To Ourselves, trans. Leon S. Roudiez (New York: Columbia University Press, 1991), 169 – 216. Available via e-res

Noëlle McAfee, “Abject Strangers: Towards an Ethics of Respect,” in Kelly Oliver ed., Ethics, Politics, and Difference in Julia Kristeva (New York: Routledge, 1993), 135 - 149. Available via e-res

Session 13 April 29th

Discussion Leader: Sean Bristol-Lee & Zachary Cheney

Screening:

The Pillow Book, Peter Greenaway, 1996

Reading:

Paula Willoquet-Maricondi, “Fleshing the Text: Greenaway’s Pillow Book and the Erasure of the Body,” Postmodern Culture vol. 9, no. 2 (1999): ¶ 22. Available via Project Muse

Julia Kristeva, “Is Sensation a Language?” trans. John Lechte, in John Lechte ed., Writing and Psychoanalysis: A Reader (Sydney: Arnold, 1996), 183 – 201.

Session 14 May 6th

Discussion Leader: Joana Martins

Screening:

Caravaggio, Derek Jarman, 1986

Reading:

John Lechte, “Melancholy,” in Julia Kristeva (London: Routledge, 1991), 185 - 194. Available via e-res

Julia Kristeva, “Beauty: The Depressive’s Other Realm,” and “Holbein’s Dead Christ,” in Black Sun: Depression and Melancholia, trans. Leon S. Roudiez (New York: Columbia University Press, 1989), 97 – 138. Available via e-res

Session 15 May 13th

Screening:

Quills, Philip Kaufman, 2000

Reading:

Julia Kristeva, “Fantasy and Cinema,” in Intimate Revolt: The Powers and Limits of Psychoanalysis, trans. Jeanine Herman (New York: Columbia University Press, 2002), 63 – 80. Available via e-res

Session 16 May 20th:

Submit Final Paper