BMET 27A56 - Writing a Contemporary History of the Occult
Through weekly readings, students will consider how contemporary art practices parallel forms of witchcraft. How have both been penalized, censored, and feared for their abilities to disrupt, manipulate, and critique normative hegemony? Centering on a western contemporary history of occult, readings will include Ioan P. Couliano's writings on Giordano Bruno; Virilio's interpretation of 'speed' or ‘dromology' as an inherently dominant methodology within the militarized manipulation of society; and Silvia Federici's read of late medieval witch hunts as the extermination of threatening alternatives to early capitalism. Students are expected to complete one creative writing project making use of non-fiction research discussed in class.
Margaret HAINES
Atelier
English
NA
Autumn 2023-2024
Participation: 10%
Technical exchange: 5%
Written assignment: 20%
Mid-term: 25%
Final project: 40%
* The final project may be a lecture followed by an essay of 5000 words on the same topic; or, a lecture followed by a shorter essay and supplemented by a video.
Couliano, Ioan P. "The Great Manipulator: Eros and Magic." Eros and Magic in the Renaissance, Translated by Margaret Cook, The University of Chicago Press, 1987, pp. 87-102.
Federici, Silvia. "The Great Witch-Hunt in Europe." Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation, Autonomedia, 2004, pp. 163-219.
Preciado, Paul. "Pharmacopower." Testo Junkie: Sex, Drugs and Biopolitics in the Pharmacopornographic Era, Translated by Bruce Benderson, The Feminist Press: City University of New York, 2006, pp. 144-152.
Virilio, Paul. "From Street Fight to State Right." Speed and Politics, Translated by Marc Polizzotti, Semiotext(e), 2006, pp. 29 - 48. | Virilio, Paul. "Du droit à la rue au droit à l'État." Vitesse et Politique, Édition Galilée, Paris, 1977, pp. 13-32