Essay questions, advice on essay writing and guidelines for essay submission can all be downloaded from the postmodernism LMS site
(login your unimelb email username and password)
Hints, tips, questions and comments to follow.
(login your unimelb email username and password)
Hints, tips, questions and comments to follow.
31 comments:
RE the Question:
with the first essay do we need to reference outside the set text the question is referring to or are you happy to simply refer to the text (ie stick to the reader)?
The first essay is a research essay, so you will need to engage with a range of articles in addition to those in the reader. This might include critiques of the set text, or alternative theories of postmodernism. There's no minimum number of texts to refer to, but it is important to demonstrate that you've undertaken some research on these topics.
Supersearch should make finding relevant articles a whole lot easier!
For our first essay, can we write on a text that has not yet been covered in the lectures?
If we can, would you advise against it? :P
Ta!
Can we write on the same theme (ie topic for each week) for both the 1st and 2nd essay?
Would I be at a disadvantage if I choose to write on a theme that we havent covered yet for essay 1? Can each week's theme be understood and appreciated independently from themes covered in previous weeks?
Thanks!
Hi
We do expect you to cover two different areas in both your essays, so you can't answer the same question twice, or offer close readings of the same text twice.
If you choose to write on a text/topic that we haven't yet covered, you'll definitely be at a disadvantage (otherwise what's the point of lectures and tutorials?), but ultimately it's your choice.
And while clearly every topic in this subject is interconnected, it's important to recognise that one of the skills you're harnessing in a 1500 word essay is your ability to be strategic and concentrated in your analysis of a specific issue.
If you're feeling at sea or overwhelmed, do chat to your tutor about what you'd like to write about, and how you might go about formulating your own question.
Hope this helps!
With reference to question six, what exactly constitutes a 'cultural text'?
With reference to question six, what exactly constitutes a 'cultural text'?
Regarding question 9; is jamesons concept of 'cognitive mapping' that which he makes reference to after his exploration of the postmodern hyperspace by example of the crazy hotel?
Also which articles might be a good starting point for exploring different interpretation of po-mo cognitive mapping?
Re: With reference to question six, what exactly constitutes a 'cultural text'?
'Cultural text' in this context is short-hand for novel, film, musical piece, short-story or building or space that we have studied in the course so far.
Re: Re question 9; is jamesons concept of 'cognitive mapping' that which he makes reference to after his exploration of the postmodern hyperspace by example of the crazy hotel? Also which articles might be a good starting point for exploring different interpretation of po-mo cognitive mapping?
Hi. Jameson's notion of cognitive mapping is spelled out in a number of places in the article, but it does definitely appear in relation to his analysis of the Bonaventure hotel in LA. If you're interested in further articles on cognitive mapping, it's a good idea to get hold of Jameson's 1991 book (Postmodernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism). He's also written another article with cognitive mapping in the title, and Andrew Ross's Collection of essays "Unviersal Abandon" has an interesting interview with Jameson on the subject. That's not an exhaustive list, obviously, but should be a helpful start. Go go gadget researcher...
What is this "Supersearch" you mention?
"Supersearch" is the name given to the new gateway to the library's electronic resources, the one that used to be called "buddy." It's got a whole lot of new features, but some interesting twists, so you might want to do an online tutorial if it's all looking a bit unfamiliar!
are we permitted to use the same text for both the first essay and our presentation?
Yes, you can use the same text for both the presentation and your essay.
With regard to question six,
'partiality', from what I have gathered thus far, refers to the 'impartiality' evident in postmodern cultural production which is evident through blank parody or pastiche and the denaturalization of historical assumptions and notions of absolute 'truth'.
So my question is, is the use of the word 'partial' a red herring?
i'm reading an article which quotes jameson saying that cognitive mapping is "in reality nothing but a code word for 'class consciousness'", and also "the project of cognitive mapping obviously stands or falls with the conception of some (unrepresentable, imaginary) global social totality that needs mapping". cognitive mapping seemed obscure enough already. could you help me? i don't even know how to begin understanding cognitive mapping.
'Partiality' in the context of postmodern theory in general, and question six in particular, isn't synonymous with 'impartiality'. The idea of partiality in this context refers to the postmodern resistance to metanarratives, totalising perspectives, disinterested/'objective' analysis, and concommitant valourisation of local, particular points of view. For example, postmodern theorists tend to foreground their own situatedness, the specific cultural/social perspective from which they write.
Hopes this helps. Enjoy.
Hi
Regarding Q10. When Collins speaks of "imaging" in relation to postmodern spaces, does this include spaces created by postmodern architecture or is this a different matter? Can we evaluate Collins' argument in relation to Fed Square as a postmodern space?
Regarding the 6th question – for the purposes of a more in depth analysis, can we select just ONE cultural text, and then refer to a few theorists, rather than multiples texts OR theorists?
If a ‘depthless’ postmodern text can ‘critically participate in culture’, how indeed is it depthless in the first place? I find the question very ironic. What is meant here, and what can you offer to students as a way out of this bind?
Hi
Re Question 6 - yes, it's fine to focus on one cultural text in relation to different critical perspectives rather than overview a summary or overview of multiple viewpoints. It is a 1500 word essay after all. Bear in mind the need to make sure your close reading of a particular text is well supported by research (i.e. you need to go beyond the reader)
If a ‘depthless’ postmodern text can ‘critically participate in culture’, how indeed is it depthless in the first place? I find the question very ironic. What is meant here, and what can you offer to students as a way out of this bind?
- Ah, that would be giving it away! If you're referring to Q 6, then the idea of how critical a depthless text can be is precisely the question that is being posed. Another way of approaching this question is to consider different forms of depthlessness (i.e is a flat aesthetic, for example as exemplified by Lichtenstein's art, necessarily without meaning?). Who's models of depthlessness are you running with, and can these in turn be critiqued?
Re: i'm reading an article which quotes jameson saying that cognitive mapping is "in reality nothing but a code word for 'class consciousness'", and also "the project of cognitive mapping obviously stands or falls with the conception of some (unrepresentable, imaginary) global social totality that needs mapping". cognitive mapping seemed obscure enough already. could you help me? i don't even know how to begin understanding cognitive mapping.
Cognitive mapping is a notoriously tricky concept, and one that Jameson himself acknowledges in that article as being confusing. There are different ways of approaching it, but the main point is that it is about strategies of representation: it relates to forms of art as much as forms of knowledge. One key idea for Jameson is critical distance, which postmodernism abolishes but which class consciousness provides.
Here's an excerpt from the lecture on Jameson which might help make more sense of this issue:
It’s crucial to remember that the global system is for Jameson is not unknowable – Marxism provides the interpretive framework through which we can understand the complexities of late capitalism and its cultural logic – but it is unrepresentable; too vast, too decentred, too enormous for the human mind to cope with. The aesthetic of cognitive mapping – which Jameson argues does not yet exist, but must be developed – will be the only truly political form of postmodernism; the means by which “we may again begin to grasp our positioning as individual and collective subjects and regain a capacity to act and struggle which is at present neutralized by our spatial as well as our social confusion.” It is, as Jameson later observes, something of “a code word for ‘class consciousness’ – only it propose[s] the need for consciousness of a new and hitherto undreamed kind.”
the last question is fairly vague. can you offer any specifics of what exactly you want to be covered? also, are postmodernity and postmodernism interchangeable for this question?
can you offer any specifics of what exactly you want to be covered?
also, are postmodernity and postmodernism interchangeable for this question?
No. Postmodernity = material conditions, rather than aesthetics. The question invites you to think about why Oedipa has such difficult arriving at a stable interpretation of her world. Is it because of real-world plots and deceptions, paranoia on her part, schemes on Pierce's part, the decentred power structures of late capitalism, new technologies in the information age, etc?
Hello: I am struggling to understand the four fundamental depth models delineated on page 37 of the reader. Can you help me? How should I approach it?
Re: the depth models of
1. essence and appearance
2. latent and manifest
3. authenticity and inauthenticity
4. signifier and signified
Jameson is referring here to some of the great systems of interpretation in modern thought - systems which posit a structural distinction between inside and outside, or between depth and surface, privileging the former.
He maintains these models have "been generally repudiated" in postmodern theory - i.e. they are no longer valid.
How much you need to come to terms with the detail of these models depends on the ends you have in mind. A good starting-point for any investigation like this, however, is a dictionary of philosophical terms and concepts.
-if a journal quotes from an external source, should we cite the journal or the source?
-for in-text citation do you want us to include page numbers? (i hope not)
thanks
i don't know how this would be done anyway but do you want us to cite the novel?
Questions!
1. if a journal quotes from an external source, should we cite the journal or the source?
2. for in-text citation do you want us to include page numbers?
3. i don't know how this would be done anyway but do you want us to cite the novel?
Answers!
1. you can cite the journal - for instance, "Baudrillard, Jean cited in Best & Kellner etc etc"
2. With in-text citation, you should definitely include page numbers. That's standard MLA and APA citation rules, unless things have changed recently. The English Dept. office has a style guide that you can use to check this stuff if you're ever unsure, too.
3. Cite the novel if you're doing a close reading of it, or if it supports your case, or you're quoting from it, or even if it's just a part of your essay. You can cite a novel like any other text - Pynchon, Thomas, The Crying of Lot 49, etc.
Nice post.
Post a Comment