Modernity and Geschlecht I

Modernity and Geschlecht I will explore configurations of Modernity and Geschlecht focusing on the rich connotations of the German term Geschlecht--sex, the feminine, species, descent, blood, family, race.

Course description

We will chart the landscapes of Geschlecht and relating them to the problems of modernity in a series of constellations such as Nietzsche, Andreas-Salome on renaming the human, Simmel, Adorno/Horkeimer on the utopian feminine, Freud, Weininger, Andreas-Salome on masochism and narcissism, Kirchner, Nolde, Benn, Lasker-Schueler on primitivism/racism, Dix and Grosz on the Great War and Lustmord, Benjamin, Kracauer, Ch. Wolff on flanerie and the public space.

Books and chapters

Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil," "Genealogy of Morals; Andreas-Salome, Nietzsche; selected essays, "Fenitschka and Deviation;" Simmel, selected essays, Adorno/Horkeimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment; Freud, selected essays, Weininger, Sex and Character, Benn, Ronne stories, poetry, Lasker-Schuler, poetry, Hebrew ballads, Benjamin, Baudelaire, Arcade Project, Kracauer, "Mass Ornament," Wolff, "Hindsight;" selected drawings and paintings by Kirchner, Nolde, Dix and Grosz.

Format

The course will be conducted as a seminar. Required work, participation, oral presentations and one substantial final paper.