University of California
Berkeley
Summer 2004
July 6 – August 13
(2nd, 6 week session = Session D)
ISF 100B: Introduction to Social Theory and Cultural Analysis
Focus:
The Construction of Psychic Space in a Geopolitical Framework
prof renate holub
Course Control: 49810
MTWTH 2-4pm
126 Barrows
Office Hours: M 4:00-5:30 (and by appt)
317 Campbell Hall
Tel: 642-0110
Overview, Goals, and Expectations
This course is an introduction to important social and cultural theories that reflect on the construction of
psychic space in relation to power and domination. First, we will study the central concepts of Sigmund
Freud’s psychoanalytic work. Among these are “the unconscious,” the “oedipus complex,” the “herd”, the
“hord,” etc. We will then explore the impact of Freud’s conceptual framework on a variety of social and
cultural theorists, ranging from Volosinov, Reich, and Horkheimer to Marcuse, Adorno, and Althusser.
Among the topics of discussion are the cultural roots of European psychoanalysis, the production of
psychic spaces under fascism, processes of legitimation of violence in authoritarian families, and the
cultural manipulation of the psyche under conditions of conformist consumerism. We will then study
patriarchalist and paternalist constructions of psychic spaces by discussing the work of Lacan, Luce
Irigaray and Teresa Brennan. Issues of power and domination are also under discussion when we reflect on
the geopolitical dimension of psychic spaces. In t his context, we will study W.E.B. Du Bois, Cesaire
Aime, Frantz Fanon, and Ashis Nandy, all of whom stress resistence to oppression under conditions of
internal and external colonialism. We will also read “The Southern Question” by Antonio Gramsci,
touching on the Agrarian Question. The purpose of this course is two-fold: 1) it endeavors to develop
critical conceptual tools that will enable the students to engage in their own analyses of cultural and
geographical sources that play a role in the construction of unconscious space and time in relation to
power and domination in our contemporary worlds; 2) we hope that students will be able to critically apply
acquired analytical instruments in the development of the conceptual framework of their empirical
research.
There will be one midterm (50 %) and one final exam (50%). No incompletes will be given. Students are
expected to attend all lectures, read the assigned material, and develop logs on key concepts. There will be
hand-outs on conceptual tools and study questions and students are encouraged to meet informally to
discuss course materials. For more information, please visit http://learning.berkeley.edu/holub and check
out previous classes of ISF 100B in my archives.
Syllabus
Week I:
Introduction to Sigmund Freud
Reading: “Introduction,” in The Freud Reader
“The Unconscious,” pp. 572-584
“Morning and Melancholia,” pp. 584-589
“The Future of an Illusion,” pp. 685-722
Monday, July
Tuesday July 6
Wednesday July 7
Thursday July 8
Week II
Lecture 1: Freud’s World: Europe 1900 and Volosinov
Lecture 2: The Philosophical Freud and the Psychoanalytic Freud
Lecture 3: Group Psychology and the Ego
Freud and the Frankfurt School
Reading: “Beyond the Pleasure Principle,” pp. 594-626
“Civilization and its Discontents,” pp. 722-772
Herbert Marcuse, Eros and Civilization
Monday, July 12
Tuesday, July 13
Wednesday, July 14
Thursday, July 15
Lecture 4: Critical Theory between Marx and Freud
Lecture 5: Reich and The Fascist Unconscious
Lecture 6: Marcuse, Adorno, and the Cultural Unconscious
Lecture 7: Althusser, Structuralism, and Freud
Week III
Freud and Feminism
Reading: Freud, “Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality”
pp. 239-293S
Monday, July 19
Tuesday, J uly 20
Wednesday, July 21
Thursday, July 22
Lecture 8: The Linguistic Turn and Luce Irigaray
Lecture 9: Lacan, Foucault, and Althusser
Lecture 10: Feminist Philosophy and Feminist Ethics
Midterm
Week IV
Feminism and Geopolitics
Reading: Teresa Brennan, The Transmission of Affect
Frantz Fanon, Black Skin and White Masks
Monday, July 26
Lecture 11: Teresa Brennan’s Concept of Affect
Tuesday, July 27
Wednesday, July 28
Thursday, July 29
Lecture 12: Fanon and the Construction of Time and Space
Lecture 13: Fanon and Aime on French Colonialism
Week V
Global North and Global South
Reading: Freud, “The Question of a Weltanschauung” pp. 783-796
Antonio Gramsci, “The Southern Question”
Monday, August 2
Tuesday, August 3
Wednesday, August 4
Thursday, August 5
Lecture 14: Structures of Feeling and Thinking
Lecture 15: W.E.B Du Bois and Class Society in North America
Lecture 16: The Agrarian Question and Psychology in Southern Europe
Lecture 17: Race, Class, Gender, and Space
Week VI
The Cultural Unconscious
Reading: Ashis Nandy, “The first non-western psychoanalyst and the
politics of secret selves in India” pp. 81-144
Monday, August 9
Tuesday, August 10
Tuesday, August 11
Wednesday, August 12
Thursday, August 13
Lecture 18: Psychoanalytic Traditions and Collective Selves
Lecture 19: Consumerism and Psychic Space
Lecture 20: Psychic Space in Relation to Power and Domination
Lecture 21: Freud in the 21st Century
Final Exam and Pot Luck Dinner
Required Books: 1. The Freud Reader, Ed. Peter Gay
2. Herbert Marcuse, Eros and Civilization
3. Frantz Fanon, Black Skin and White Masks
4. Teresa Brennan, The Transmission of Affect
5. Ashis Nandy, The Savage Freud
6. Antonio Gramsci, The Southern Question
Satisfies L&S Requirements: SBS Social and Behavioral Sciences and PV, Philosophy and Values.