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Course Description

Summary

Whether we love “theory” or hate it, rejecting it on the basis of a lack of understanding of its esoteric hermeneutics or jargon isn’t really a viable position, and certainly not an excuse. It’d be nice to know why, thus debating it on its own terms and perceiving its implications in all manner of contexts beyond them. The plan is to give at least an introduction to historicism, ideology, and revolution, modernity’s requisite triumvirate, over the first half of term, without which any approach to the second half’s postmodernity would be futile. We will admit to our own shortcomings from the opening day, to the stuff we haven’t read but really should have. There’s no guarantee that such a thorough suspicion of everything will make us any happier, but we’ll inform our convictions nonetheless.