("Psyche et L'amour" by Antonio Canova)

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course explores literary and visual texts frequently labeled as either "erotic" or "pornographic" - terms whose meanings and mercurial connotations we will chart and discuss throughout the course of the semester. In engaging with an array of "erotic"/"pornographic" materials, we will examine their relationship to - as well as their functions as critiques upon - the human condition. Topics we will explore include histories of sex and sexuality, and the representation of physical love in literature, film, and culture. Grades will be determined by a combination of short microthemes and expansive class participation. 

CONTACT INFO:

Prof. Jay McRoy

CART 228

TR 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm

mcroy@uwp.edu

www.jaymcroy.com

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Porn Studies - Edited by Linda Williams
Porn: Philosophy for Everyone - Edited by Dave Monroe, Fritz Allhoff, et. al.
The Sadeian Woman by Angela Carter
Against Interpretation and Other Essays  by Susan Sontag
Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille
The History of Sexuality, Volume 1 by Michel Foucault

GRADING:

Regular Attendance and Active Participation in In-Class Presentations and Discussions (25%): 

Your participation in discussions is essential if we are to learn from one another. I want to know what you think. Needless to say (but I will anyway), attendance and participation is a significant component of this course.

As this course will be seminar-based in structure, in-class presentations will constitute a significant portion of the learning experience in this class. During the third week of the semester, I will pass around a sign-up sheet for class presentations. These presentations will transpire during the second half of the semester, and presenters will be required to lead/direct the discussion of the day's reading(s) via strategic, open-ended questions.

3 Critical Microthemes/Brief Essays (approximately 700 words [or about 2-3 pages] - 25% each). A successful microtheme presents an argument about an assigned topic or question as clearly, precisely, and concisely as possible. Do not worry about elaborate introductions or conclusions. Successful microthemes "get right to the point" and support your claims with evidence drawn from the text(s) under consideration.

Although microthemes are very short, it is difficult to write one effectively in a single draft. Given the rigid word limit, narrowing your microtheme to between 700 words may prove challenging.

MICROTHEME #1 PROMPTS:

1. Describe Michel Foucault's conception of power in The History of Sexuality, Volume 1. Next, explain why Foucault thinks that we can not liberate ourselves from repression.
2. Explain the Four Strategic Unities of the "deployment of sexuality" in Michel Foucault's The History of Sexuality, Volume 1. How do these unities relate to the institution of the modern family?
3. In Lady Chatterley's Lover, the "cataclysm" of World War I impacts Clifford Chatterley, Constance Chatterley, and Oliver Mellors in different ways. What other factors, according to the novel, are shaping the 20th century? Does the novel see the world moving in a positive direction? What, if any, alternatives does it propose?
4. While writing Lady Chatterley's Lover, D.H. Lawrence considered titling the work Tenderness; in 1928, Lawrence released a little known variation of Lady Chatterley's Lover called John Thomas and Lady Jane. How might Tenderness and John Thomas and Lady Jane have been appropriate alternative titles for Lady Chatterley's Lover, and how might they be insufficient? What is/are the significance(s) and implications of the title, Lady Chatterley's Lover?

MICROTHEME #2 PROMPTS:

1. Discuss Humbert Humbert as a narrator in Lolita. How reliable is his account of the novel’s events? How does Humbert Humbert deploy language as a tool for manipulating his readers? Cite specific examples to illustrate your points.
2. How do Lolita and Humbert Humbert differ in their abilities to deal with their pasts? What do these differences reveal about their characters? Cite examples from Lolita to illustrate your points.
3. Discuss the theme of "doubles"/"doubling" in Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita. What/when are the main instances, as well as the larger implications of this conceit? Cite specific examples to illustrate your points.

MICROTHEME #3 PROMPT

1. Select one of the topics we are exploring during this last portion of the semester (e.g. "Legal Issues and Free Speech," "Porn and Aesthetic Value," "Pornographic Consumption," etc.) and explain how at least two of the writers we have encountered this semester critically examine it. In the process, describe how your own personal critical perspective intersect with/diverge from theirs.

Grading Scale for Critical Engagement Papers:

Microthemes will be graded according to the following criteria:

A or A- (Excellent): These papers consist of a thoughtful and carefully articulated thesis statement supported by well-organized paragraphs that make use of solid examples or textual citations.  “A” papers demonstrate advanced critical thinking skills, highlighted by the presence of keen, thorough, and informed insights. In addition, ideas must be developed logically. The writing should be crisp, with active sentences, and contain no grammatical errors.

B (Quite Good):  These papers contain a solid thesis statement supported with well-organized paragraphs that elaborate with detail upon your major points.  These papers demonstrate strong critical thinking skills and have only a few grammar and syntax problems.  In other words, these papers are solid works by engaged thinkers and writers.

C (Solid Effort):  These papers meet the requirements for the assignment. They contain a discernable main point and provide supporting paragraphs. Grammar and syntax problems exist to the extent that they risk alienating your readers at times or obscuring what you intend to say. 

D (Underwhelming): These papers meet some of the requirements for the assignment, but are disorganized and demonstrate minimal effort regarding their construction (including the presentation of the main ideas).

F (Failing): These papers do not meet the requirements for the assignment or fail to convey ideas in a clear and logical manner.

*N.B.: Plus and Minus Grades may also be given (e.g. B+, B-, etc.)

Rules and Regulations:

1. Come to class prepared to discuss the scheduled material. 
2. Turn your work in on time. 
3. Respect your fellow student.  This class is a space where everyone’s ideas must circulate freely. There will be no censorship of any kind in this class.  If you agree or disagree with something someone says, please wait until the person has finished speaking before voicing your opinion in a respectful manner. Do not hit or bite each other.
4. Although the texts we will examine in and for this class vary greatly in aesthetic and critical approach, they each engage with everyday human experiences both hideous and beautiful. 

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***PLAGIARISM WARNING*** 

There is nothing wrong with using the words and thoughts of others as long as you acknowledge your debt.  In fact, you can frequently strengthen your writing by doing so. However, if you represent the words or ideas of others as if they were your own, then you are plagiarizing. Plagiarism includes:     

1) Paraphrasing or copying (without the use of quotation marks) someone else's words without acknowledgment. 

2) Using someone else's facts or ideas without acknowledgment. 

3) Handing in work for one course that you handed in for credit in another course without the permission of both instructors.

When you use published words, data, or thoughts, you should note their use. We will use MLA Guidelines throughout this course. When you use the ideas of friends or classmates, you should thank them in an endnote (e.g. "I am grateful to my friend so and so for the argument in the third paragraph").  If friends give you reactions but not suggestions, you need not acknowledge that help in print (though it is gracious to do so). Collaboration and using the work of others is the backbone of academia. Plagiarism and academic dishonesty destroys the possibility of working together as colleagues. Therefore, all instances of plagiarism in this class will be addressed with the utmost severity.  If you have any questions as to whether something you have written for this class constitutes plagiarism, please see me before handing it in for credit.

WEEK-BY-WEEK BREAKDOWN:

9/4: INTRODUCTION

9/9: "Introduction to Eroticism and Pornography" (cont.)

9/11: History of Sexuality, Vol. 1 by Michel Foucault
         Read: "We 'Other Victorians'" & "The Repressive Hypothesis"

9/16: History of Sexuality, Vol 1 by Michel Foucault
         Read: "The Deployment of Sexuality"

9/18: Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
         Read through Chapter 8

9/23: Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
         Read through Chapter 14

9/25: Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
         Finish Novel

9/30: Introduction to De Sade & The Sadeian Woman: An Exercise in Cultural History by Angela Carter

10/2: The Sadeian Woman: An Exercise in Cultural History by Angela Carter

10/7: Georges Bataille (An Introduction)

         MICROTHEME #1 DUE

10/9: Story of The Eye by Georges Bataille

10/14: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

10/16: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

10/21: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

10/23: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

10/28: PORN AND PHILOSOPHY
            Read "Porn Studies: Proliferating Pornographies On/Scene: An Introduction" by Linda Williams (PR) & "Strange Bedfellows: The Interpenetration of Philosophy and Pornography" by Andrew Aberdeen (PP)

10:30: "The Pornographic Imagination" by Susan Sontag 

           MICROTHEME #2 DUE      

11/4: "TALKING DIRTY: LEGAL ISSUES AND FREE SPEECH" (P&P)

         Read essays by Jacob M. Held ("One Man's Trash is Another Man's Pleasure: Obscenity, Pornography, and the Law"), Mimi Marinucci ("What's Wrong with Porn?",  and J.K. Miles ("Bumper Stickers and Boobs: Why the Free Speech Argument for Porn Fails")

11/6: "THE ART OF DIRTY: PORN AND AESTHETIC VALUE" (P&P)

         Read essays by Christopher Bartel ("The 'Fine Art' of Pornography? The Conflict Between Artistic Value and Pornographic Value"), Lawrence Howe ("An Unholy Trinity: The Beautiful, the Romantic, and the Vulgar"), and David Rose ("The Problem with the Problem with Pornography")

11/11: "PORNOGRAPHIC CONSUMPTION" (P&P and PS)

           Read: "Pornography as Simulation" by Theodore Bach & "Sex, Lies, and Virtual Reality" by Matthew Brophy (P&P) & "Video Pornography, Visual Pleasure, and the Return of the Sublime" by Franklin Melendez (PS)

11/13: "PORNOGRAPHY AND RACE" (PS)

           Read: "Skin Flicks and the Racial Border: Pornography, Exploitation, and Interracial Lust" by Linda Williams & "Crackers and Whackers: The White Trashing of Porn" by Constance Penley (PS)

11/18: A Hole in My Heart (Lukas Moodysson, 2004; In-Class Screening)

11/20: A Hole in My Heart (Lukas Moodysson, 2004; In-Class Screening)

11/25: "BETWEEN THE SHEETS: PORN ETHICS AND PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS" (P&P)

           Read essays by Tait Szabo ("Strange Love, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Porn"), Fiona Woollard ("Cheating with Jenna: Monogamy, Pornography, and Erotica"), and Darci Doll ("Celebrity Sex Tapes: A Contemporary Cautionary Tale")

11/27: NO CLASS - THANKSGIVING

12/2: "GAY, LESBIAN, AND HOMOSOCIAL PORNOGRAPHIES" (PS)

         Read essays by Rich Cante and Angelo Restivo's "The Cultural-Aesthetic Specificities of All-male Moving Image Pornography" & Heather Butler's "What Do You Call a Lesbian with Long Fingers? The Development of Lesbian and Dyke Pornography"  (PS)

12/4: LAST CLASS - TBA

12/9: MICROTHEME #3 DUE in my office (CART 228) by 5:00 pm 

(The Marquis de Sade: Pornographer or Prophet)

         

(Georges Bataille: At the Limits of Vision)

(Lolita: My Most Difficult Work)

(Pornography: The Secret History of Civilization, Episode 1-6)