担当教員：メアリー ナイトン
This semester, we will read portions of Kaja Silverman's The Subject of Semiotics to familiarize ourselves with the jargon of not only psychoanalytic criticism but also of the “subject” as it emerges distinct from the humanist “individual” in philosophy and contemporary critical theory. For feminist theory, these developments raise new questions about gender and its relationship to language, cultural codes, and social norms. We will read excerpts from representative works by Judith Butler and Michel Foucault to see how their sexual politics and bio-power analyses but the body into discourse in ways that complicate hegemonic linguistic models of cultural determinism. To put into practice the theory we are reading, we will read several novels by Japanese women writers wherein language play, cinema, intertextuality, and social issues of race and sexuality might give us food for critical thought. The writers and works will be chosen based on student research interests but may include Ariyoshi Sawako's Hishoku (『非色』), Tsushima Yuko's Chouji (『寵児』), Oba Minako's Garakuta Hakubutsukan (『がらくた博物館』), Kanai Mieko's Yawarakai Tsuchi ni Funde (『柔らかい土にふんで』), Ruth Ozeki's My Year of Meats, among others. Students interested in this class are encouraged to contact me in advance and come to the first class meeting to find out more. Languages used in the class will be both English and Japanese.