Postmodern Theories and Texts
Fall, 1998   Kate Liu
What we call the beginning is often the end.
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from. (T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets)
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I. Postmodernity

 

II. Lit. & History
III.Poststructuralism

 
Syllabus
*is for the doctoral student                  Go to the complete list of selected readings; possible paper topics
Date Theories and Topics  Cultural Texts
 1 
9/24
General introduction 
Postmodernism and Postmodernity
1)"台灣地區後現代狀況大事年表 1960 -1987"
selections of music video

intro. site: Postmodernism


10/1
2) Jencks--history and definitions

Selected articles on Taiwanese identity (summary)

architecture --Western (A Chinese intro.) 
other examples

and Taiwanese examples: 1, 2, 3

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I. Postmodernity

Transfer interrupted!

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3) Jameson--late capitalism and post-industrial society 

Liao's article from Boundary II.

examples of pastiche or parody?  Andy Warhol, Hot Shot and "I'm Fat"
* Online Version: The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (with pictures) 
(local excerpted version)

10/15
4) Lyotard--deligitimation and the postmodern sublime 
*5) Habermas -- modernity, an unfinished or failed project? 
黃宗慧:大敘事或小敘事?-重探李歐塔之後現代觀 
Is Internet a public sphere?-- 
Visit a BBS and observe the dynamics of their interaction 
* E-Text: The Postmodern Condition

10/22
6) Beaudrillard--TV and computer simulation
*7) "Ecstacy of Communication"
Aerosmith & the TV walls in Taipei
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II. Postmodernism (1):  Literature & History
6.
10/29
8) Theories of Metafiction; "Introduction," Metafiction "Hat Act," Midnight's Children, chap 1 
*excerpt from《高砂百合》, reference: time line, etc

11/5 
9) Hutcheon  "Historiographical Metafiction" Midnight's Children
*excerpt from《高砂百合》 

11/12
Holiday

11/19
10) John Barth "Literature of Replenishment" 
Final Paper proposal due
Midnight's Children
*Albert choice or 平路
10
11/26
Postmodern Poetry
Taiwanese Postmodern Poetry (an Outline in Chinese)
Midnight's Children
*Albert choice or 朱天心
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III. Postmodernism (II): Poststructuralism
11 
12/3
11) Roland Barthes & 11) Representation 夏宇的詩 
intro. site:
Some Post-Structural Assumptions
12 
12/10 
12) Michel Foucault, Power & Subject
13) "Foucault and the Social Sciences"
林燿德的詩 
13 
12/17
 Representation & Hyptertext hypertext theories
歧路花園:  抹黑李白.詩組, 追夢人and the  essays 
May --Truman Show
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IV. Postmodernism (IV): Postmodern Politics & Postmodern Popular Culture
14 
12/24
Postmodernism and Postcolonialism: overlapping,  contamination or assimilation? 
14) Simon During
a Taiwanese film 《阿爸的情人》 
村上春樹
15 
12/31 
 Postmodernism and Feminism
  15) Owen--pm & feminism
16) LindaNicholson & Nancy Fraser
 feminist photography (Barbara Kruger,   Cindy Sherman) & Madonna 
Angela--Housekeeping
Julia -- postmodern architecture
16 
1/7
17) Laclau--neo-Marxism Feminist debates, and debates on Taiwan's  independence
17 
1/14
 TV (music video) and Internet
18) MTV Meets Postmodern Theory 
"Cable Channel and National Immaginary"
傳播與認同
cable channel
18 
1/21
FINAL PAPER due
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Selected Reading:
I. Postmodernity
1) "台灣地區後現代狀況大事年表 1960 -1987."  羅青﹒《什麼是後現代主義》, 台北:五四, 1989: 361-415.

2) Jencks, Charles.  "The Post-Modern Agenda."  The Post-Modern Reader.  Ed. Charles Jencks.  New York: St Martin's Press, 1992: 10-39.

3﹚Jameson, Fredric.  "Postmodernism, or The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism."  Ed. Thomas Docherty.  Postmodernism: A Reader.  New York: Harvester, 1993.

4) Lyotard, Jean-Francois.  "Answering the Question: What is postmodernism?"  Foster, Hal, ed. The Anti-Aesthetic: Essays on Postmodern Culture. Seattle: Bay P, 1983.

5) Jurgen Habermas, "Modernity -- An Incomplete Project."  (from Jenck's Reader)

6)  Beaudrillard, Jean. "The Procession of Simulacra."   Ed. Wallis, Brian.  Art Aafter Modernism : Rethinking Representation. New York : David R. Godine Publisher, 1984. 

7) Jean Baudrillard, "The Ecstacy of Communication."   The Anti-Aesthetic: Essays on Postmodern Culture. Seattle: Bay P, 1983.

II. Postmodernism (1):  Literature & History
8) "Introduction."  Currie, Mark, ed. Metafiction.  New York : Longman Group, 1995.

9) Hutcheon, Linda.  "Historiographical Metafiction: 'the pastime of past time.'"  A Poetics of Postmodernism: History, Theory, Fiction. New York: 1988.

10) Barth, John. "Literature of Replenishment" (from Jenck's Reader) 

III. Postmodernism (II): Poststructuralism

11)  Barthes, Roland.  "From Work to Text."   (from Wallis Reader)
        ---.  "Myth Today"; "Rhetoric of the Image." from Representation.
       Hall, Stuart.  Excerpt from "The Work of Representation." 36-64.  Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices.   Ed. Stuart Hall.  London: Sage, 1997.

12) Michel Foucault, "The Subject and Power"  (from Wallis Reader)

13) The Foucault Chapter in  Sarup, Madan. An Introductory Guide to Post-structuralism and Postmodernism.   Athens : University of Georgia Press, 1993. ?

IV. Postmodernism (IV): Postmodern Politics & Postmodern Popular Culture
14) During, Simon.  "Postmodernism or Post-Colonialism Today."   (from Docherty Reader)

15) Owen, Craig.  "The Discourse of Others." (from Folster Reader)

16)  Nancy Fraser & Linda Nicholson, "Social Criticism without Philosophy: An Encounter between Feminism and Postmodernism."  (from Docherty Reader)

17) Laclau, Ernesto. "Politics and the Limits of Modernity" (from Docherty Reader)

18) Goodwin, Andrew.  "Fatal Distractions: MTV Meets Postmodern  Theory."  Ed. Simon Frith, et al.  Sound and Vision: The Music Video Reader.  New York: Routledge, 1993.

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Taiwanese Postmodernism:   The following are articles that we may read.  Please go to our bibliography for Taiwanese books on postmodernisms.

I. Articles on Taiwanese Identity -- Can we move beyond Union/Independence issue now?
邱貴芬·〈「發現台灣」:建構台灣後殖民論述 〉· 《中外文學  》第二十一卷•第二期(July 1992)

廖朝陽·是四不像,還是虎豹獅象?-- 再與邱貴芬談臺灣文化 〉·《中外文學 》第二十一卷•第三期 (August 1992)
邱貴芬·〈咱攏是臺灣人」-- 答廖朝陽有關臺灣後殖民論述的問題  〉·《中外文學 》第二十一卷•第三期 (August 1992)
 

陳昭瑛:論台灣的本土化運動:一個文化史的考察 《中外文學  》第二十三卷•第九期 (February
     1995)
陳芳明:百年來的台灣文學與台灣風格-台灣新文學運動史導論 《中外文學  》第二十三卷•第九期 (February 1995)
 

廖朝陽:中國人的悲情:回應陳昭瑛並論文化建構與民族認同 《中外文學  》第二十三卷• (March  1995)
張國慶:追尋台灣意識的定位:透視<論台灣的本土化運動>之迷思  《中外文學  》第二十三卷• (March  1995)

傳播與認同專刊· 《新聞學研究》· Vol 65 (1998).    台北:政治大學新聞研究所·
e.g.《衛星電視與國族想像:以衛視中文台的日劇為觀察對象》 "Cable Channel and National Immaginary."

Liao, Ping-hui.  "Literary Discourse and Public Culture in Taiwan." Boundary 2  Vol 24 No. 3 (Fall,
             1997): 41-64.

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Possible Paper Topics & Texts
More topics will emerge in our discussion as the course develops.
You can also choose a postmodern perspective to analyze a text of another historical period.
English
Taiwanese
Topics: 
Parody or pastiche?
Texts: 
postmodern films such as: 
Icicle Thief, work by Woody Allen,  Weird Al Yonkovich
Postmodernism & Taiwanese cultural identity: 
How do we construct it? 
How is cultural identity related to national identity? 
Is Taiwanese culture just a combination of colonial cultures?
Texts: 

MTV channel or specific music videos, 豬頭皮,羅大佑, 

metafiction  a lot! Does Taiwanese metafiction speak to/represent Taiwanese society? 平路、張大春、楊照、林林燿德
postmodern constructions of history Forrest Gump, a lot! Taiwan's, Hong Kong's, China's histories and identities;  a lot of 新電影、 
關錦鵬、阿飛正傳, etc.
the possibility of public sphere BBS and call-in. 
postmodern sci-fi (not our focus, but important) Blade RunnerTotal Recall,
postmodern city (not our focus, but important) the waning of affect, depthlessness, loss of identity, overall commodification a lot!
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Kate Liu
Office: SF 124
Tel: (H)25282570 (O) 29031111-3676
email: engl1009@mails.fju.edu.tw

Office Hours: Mon 10:00 - 3:30