Posthumanist Theory & Poetry
Course Description
Summary
Lyric poetry prizes the personal "I," but what happens when writers embody the lives of objects, animals, robots, and environments? How does writing from these positions help illuminate the ways that the concept of "humanity" has excluded Black, POC, trans and gender-diverse, and disabled people? And what new possibilities are opened when we think and write beyond the human? In this advanced seminar, we will read poetry alongside posthumanist theory, with an emphasis on critical race, feminist, and disability studies. Beginning with Sylvia Wynter's inquiry into how the Western emergence of the concept of "Man" as a sovereign, rights-bearing subject justified the colonization of the Global South, we will move outward to theorists such as Donna Haraway, Elizabeth Grosz, Zakkiyah Iman Jackson, and Mel Y. Chen. Alongside these thinkers, we will read contemporary poetry by Bhanu Kapil, Oliver Baez Bendorf, Brenda Shaughnessy, L. Lamar Wilson, and others in order to investigate how poets think, feel, and create beyond narrow definitions of personhood. Students will give presentations, submit written responses, and work toward a final project (either a paper or a creative project with a critical introduction).
This course may appeal to students with an interest in contemporary poetry, Black Studies, critical race theory, queer/feminist studies, and disability studies. Students in all disciplines are welcome to apply.
Learning Outcomes
- Become familiar with concepts in critical posthumanist studies, with particular attention paid to works of critical race, queer, feminist, and crip theory
- Practice working through the complex arguments of critical theory and applying them to works of literature
- Become sharper readers of literary texts by close-reading poetry, investigating their formal and conceptual workings through the lens of theoretical frameworks
- Experiment with new reading practices and thinking at the edges of our understanding
Prerequisites
Submit a list of up to 5 relevant courses and a writing sample that demonstrates the ability to perform literary analysis and/or engage with critical theory. [Standard language about form submission.]
Corequisites
Students in 4000-level Literature classes are required to attend all Literature Evenings and Poetry at Bennington readings, commonly held at 7pm on most Wednesday evenings.
Cross List
- Black Studies
- Society, Culture, & Thought