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GOVT394
The Politics of Rhetoric and symbols
GOVT394 FA
Fall 96 Availability (Last Updated on Sat Mar 8 05:00:40 EST 1997
)
Section Limit Enrollment Available
01 15 15 0
Within the usual confines of political science, the study of
rhetoric and symbols has generated neither precise concepts
nor an adequate methodology. Some political scientists tend
to view politics as basically a matter of material interests
and the groups articulating them. Symbolic displays of
power and rhetorical practices are regarded as
epiphenomenal. A second set of interpretations, what we
might call the "ideational school" or the school of
political culture, has suggested that rhetoric and symbols
determine political consequences. This course explores the
representational and functional dimensions of political
rhetoric and symbols. Its point of departure is the
recognition that although it is difficult to
"operationalize" such variables as discourse and
iconography, ignoring them leaves us unable to explain why
rhetoric and symbols persist, how they might matter to
politics, and results in importantly incomplete
descriptions of political life.
MAJOR READINGS
Ernst Kantorowicz, THE KING'S TWO BODIES
Roland Barthes, MYTHOLOGIES
Norbert Elias, THE COURT SOCIETY
Mona Ozouf, FESTIVALS AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
Paul Veyne, BREAD AND CIRCUSES
Slavoj Zizek, THE SUBLIME OBJECT OF IDEOLOGY
Clifford Geertz, NEGARA: THE THEATRE STATE
James C. Scott, DOMINATION AND THE ARTS OF RESISTANCE
Pierre Bourdieu, LANGUAGE AND SYMBOLIC POWER
Michel Foucault, THE HISTORY OF SEXUALITY: AN INTRODUCTION
Achille Mbembe's "The Banality of Power and the Aesthetics
of Vulgarity in the Postcolony"
EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Students will write
one-paragraph assignments weekly and one seminar paper.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS
Unless
preregistered students attend the first class meeting or
communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first
class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE:
Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the
Registrar's Office.
COURSE FORMAT: Seminar
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Level: UG Credit: 1.00
Gen Ed Area & Dept: SBS GOVT
Prerequisites:
None
- Section 01
- Wedeen, L
- Times: ..W.... 1:30PM;
- Grading Mode: A/F
- Registration Preference (1 high to 6 low, 0=Excluded) Sr: 1, Jr: 2, So: 0, Fr: 0
- Major Preference Given
Last Updated on MAR-10-1997
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Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459