English 102D: Modern
Youth
Office: H370
T.A.: Scott Kaufman
Email: skaufman@uci.edu
“Modern
Youth” approaches the volatile figure of the youth in the Modernism of Oscar
Wilde, Wyndham Lewis, Sigmund Freud, James Joyce, and David Wojnarowicz.
Beginning with late 19th century British anxieties surrounding the
homosexuality and civic status of urban boys, we examine the Aestheticist and
Decadent response to the emerging legal subject, the youth. Moving from the claim that the masculine
youth becomes a category of social discipline in the mid and late 19th
century to the modernist preoccupation with early childhood, historical
regression and states of “primitive” development (in psychoanalysis, social
commentary and literature) the course develops the notion that temporal figures
of regression offer ambivalent support for normative narratives while
simultaneously these figures become crucial modes of resistance to the dominant
forms of sexual subjection.
A lecture course with, one oral report,
one midterm and one 10 page paper.
Oscar
Wilde, Picture of Dorian Gray
“A
Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Over-educated”
“Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of
the Young”
L.
Dowling, Hellenism and Homosexuality,
Selections
J.
Bristow, Effeminate England,
Selections
N.
Bartlett, Who was that Man?
Foucault,
History of Sexuality
Freud,
Totem and Taboo (recommended:
“The Relation of the Poet to Daydreaming”, “Four Prefaces”)
James
Joyce, Portrait of the Artist as a Young
Man
Wyndham
Lewis, The Doom of Youth (xerox), Time and
Western Man (selections)
Wojnarowicz, Close to the Knives
FORMAT OF THE COURSE
The
course consists of lecture-discussions, general discussions, oral reports and
small theory groups where students will work together to generate a critical
understanding of the texts we read.
There
will be a midterm examination; students will write one paper (8 page), and one
short oral report.
Oral Reports
Students
will also be called upon to present an “oral report” once in the semester. Oral
reports consist of three well-honed critical questions drawn from passages in
the day’s readings. These passages may be contained within a series of focus
pages determined before class by the instructor and announced at the previous
session. Students’ names will be announced at random in a given class, and the
students called will present their questions to the class for discussion. Thus,
every student must come prepared to each class meeting with at least 3
questions and passages for discussion. After delivering your oral report you
will write a short paper (1-3pages) repeating your questions and analyzing the
resulting discussion. This report will not be a confession of feeling but an
exercise in critical thinking where you criticize your own performance and that
of others.
Grading System
1.
Midterm: 25 points
2.
Oral Report: 25 point
3.
Final Paper: 35 points
Late Papers
Late
papers are strongly discouraged and can result in the loss of an entire point
for each day late.
Paper Format
Papers must be word processed in double-spaced
12-point font text with page numbers, title and your name. Do not use
decorative bindings/binders etc. You are responsible for maintaining copies of
your work until the end of the term. This means that you have hard copies or
floppy discs (I recommend both) of every piece of work you do. Never turn in papers
with pen or ink marginalia or corrections. Your work represents you.
Absences
Do
not skip class. This course depends upon your presence and your participation
in the oral reporting. By keeping up with the reading and articulating your
thoughts in the class you will gain the skills that this course is designed to
develop. Absences due to illness, arrest, catastrophe or death in the family
will be excused with letters from the appropriate authorities. If you are
absent the day your name is called for oral reporting, you will have only one
chance to make it up.
Athletes
Your
practice and meet schedule are no excuse for missing class meetings. Any
absence due to your athletics program must be explained by a letter from your
coach.
Acknowledgement of Sources
Plagiarism is a serious
matter. When discussing the work of another writer inadvertent plagiarism
sometimes occurs. Be aware that whenever you quote, summarize or paraphrase
another source you must acknowledge your indebtedness to that source and give
it credit through your clear use of footnotes. Most writing handbooks e.g. the
MLA Handbook have sections discussing plagiarism with examples of acceptable
and unacceptable usage. Ironically, most of these cautions sound alike and
attest to the difficulty of discerning a plagiarism from a conventional and
doctrinaire use of language. You will become more skilled in the avoidance of
plagiarism as you develop as a critic.
For footnote format see the MLA Handbook. You may use any single
accepted style of citation (either parenthetical
notes, footnotes or endnotes), but you must be consistent and stick to a single
style within a single paper.
Eng 102D COURSE
CALENDAR
Week
1 Sept 25, 27 Introductions: Close Reading
Oscar Wilde, “A Few Maxims for the Instruction
of the Over-educated”, “Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young”
Week 2 Oct 2, 4 The Cult of the Author
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Week
3 Oct 9, 11 Historical Shifts
Linda Dowling, Hellenism and Homosexuality, selections
Joseph
Bristow, Effeminate England,
selections
Week
4 Oct 16, 18 Forgery: Memory
and Reconstruction
Neil
Bartlett, Who Was That Man?
Week
5 Oct 23, 25 Social Institutions: Taboo
Sigmund
Freud, Totem and Taboo
Week
6 Oct 30, Nov 1 Social Institutions:
Confessional Disciplines
Michel
Foucault, The History of Sexuality, Vol
I
Week
7 Nov 6, 8 Writing and
the Subject: Fictional Autobiography (Scott Kaufman)
Link
to Scott’s lecture notes
James
Joyce, Portrait of the Artist as a Young
Man
Week
8 Nov 13, 15 Infantile Discipline (Scott Kaufman)
Wyndham
Lewis, “Doom of Youth”
Time and Western Man (selections)
Week
9 Nov 20 Social Panic
Wojnarowicz, Close to
the Knives
Week
10 Nov 27, 29 Final Things