510 The Literature of History: Historiography of the Body
Fall 2006
Dr. Sarah Schrank
California State University, Long Beach
Office: F02-204
Email: sschrank@csulb.edu
Phone: 562.985.2293
Office Hours: Tuesdays 2:00-4:00; Wednesdays 3:00-5:00
Class meeting time: Wednesday 6:30-9:15
Classroom: PSY 152
Course Description
Within the past three decades, the body has emerged as an important site for the historical study
of power, sexuality, culture, gender, class and race. As the literal embodiment of human life and a
representative embodiment of identity, the body has become a key analytical category in critical
race theory, feminist theory, cultural studies, and the investigation of the social construction of
sexuality and gender. As the fields of body inquiry have expanded and crossed disciplinary
boundaries, contemporary historians have increasingly incorporated studies of the body, or
theories of the body, into their scholarship. This graduate seminar will examine how the
discipline of history has incorporated the body as a tool for research, context, and analysis, as
well as explore how the history of the body has emerged as its own dynamic field. Topics include
(but are not limited to) Power and the Body, Social Constructions of Sex and Gender, Male
Bodies, Feminism and the Body, Racialized Bodies, Bodies of Colonialism, Cosmetic Surgery,
the Body Grotesque, Pornography and Performance.
Assessment
Participation and Attendance: 15%
Oral Presentation:
15%
Analysis Paper #1:
20%
Analysis Paper #2:
20%
Final Historiography Paper:
30%
Students are expected to attend all class meetings and complete all assigned readings in order to
fulfill the requirements for this core graduate course.
Reading Assignments
Laura Gowing, Common Bodies: Women, Touch, and Power in 17th Century England
Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison
Thomas Laqueur, Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud
Londa Schiebinger, editor, Feminism and the Body
John F. Kasson, Houdini, Tarzan, and the Perfect Man: The White Male Body and the Challenge
of Modernity in America
Ann Laura Stoler, Carnal Knowledge and Imperial Power: Race and the Intimate in Colonial
Rule
Elizabeth Haiken, Venus Envy: A History of Cosmetic Surgery
Maxine Leeds Craig, Ain’t I a Beauty Queen? Black Women, Beauty, and the Politics of Race
Rosemarie Garland Thomson, Extraordinary Bodies: Figuring Physical Disability in American
Culture and Literature
Weekly readings on E-Reserve. See syllabus for specific assignments. Code: thebody
All books are available at the 49ers Booskstore, amazon.com, and half.com
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CLASSROOM STANDARDS
Etiquette: Pagers and cellular phones must be either turned off or switched to “silent” mode
during the duration of the class meetings. Text messaging during class meetings is unacceptable
and a student caught doing so will be asked to leave the class. Laptop computers are to be used
for note-taking only. If used for email, web-surfing, or other activities during class meetings the
student will be asked to leave the class. Please do not talk when I am talking or when a student is
asking a question. Be respectful of one another and of the space we are in. Drinking coffee, soda
or water is fine; eating an entire entrée during class is unpleasant for everyone around you. In
short, avoid distracting activities in order to ensure that all students may have the opportunity to
listen, learn, and participate equally.
Attendance and Participation: I expect students to attend every class meeting and to be prepared
to engage the themes/topics scheduled every week. Students are responsible for all materials in
the texts, classroom presentations (including screenings), and discussions.
Withdrawal from the Course: This course follows standard university withdrawal policies. It
is the student’s responsibility to follow the proper procedures to officially drop the course from
the Registrar’s records.
Religious Observances: Pursuant to the California Education Code, if you will miss any class
meetings or assignment deadlines because of religious reasons, you need to notify me within the
first two weeks of the semester.
“Shared Community”: Discriminatory statements of any kind negate the education process and
will not be tolerated. This course strictly adheres to the university’s “Principles of Shared
Community,” which states that “members of the CSULB community have the right to work and
learn in an environment free of discrimination….CSULB is committed to creating a community
in which a diverse population can learn, live, and work in an atmosphere of tolerance, civility,
and respect for the rights and sensibilities of each individual, without regard to economic status,
ethnic background, political views, or other personal characteristics or beliefs.”
Students with Disabilities: I will make every effort for reasonable accommodation of the needs of
students with disabilities. Please discuss your request with me within the first two weeks of the
semester and/or with the Office of Disabled Student Services in Brotman Hall 270.
Plagiarism and Cheating: Cheating and plagiarism are serious offenses and will not be tolerated.
They are violations of university regulations. Students in this class will be held to a high standard
of academic integrity, which is defined as "the pursuit of scholarly activity free from fraud and
deception." Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarizing,
fabricating of information or citations, facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others, having
unauthorized possession of examinations, submitting work of another person or work previously
used without informing the instructor, or tampering with the academic work of other students.
Such actions will be subject to disciplinary action. If you have any questions about academic
integrity, please talk with me. A single instance of cheating and plagiarism will result, at the very
least, in a failing grade for that assignment. Depending on the severity of the case, other
consequences may include a failing grade for the class, regardless of performance on other
assignments, and further disciplinary actions, including suspension and expulsion, based on
University policy as summarized in the Schedule of Classes. (Graduate students will be held to an
even higher standard. A single act of cheating or plagiarism will result in a failing grade in the
course, regardless of other graded course assignments.)
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Be sure to acknowledge the source of information when writing your papers. When you
paraphrase or quote directly, provide the author’s surname and page number within a set of
parenthesis after the sentence. For example:
As Gerald Nash argues, “World War II left an indelible imprint on the economy of the
American West” (Nash, p.309).
“She had fled her hometown because she longed to sing and wanted something more than
bowling alleys and drive-ins, and yet here she was back again in the Great Nowhere”
(Echols, p. 90).
Make-ups for written work will be granted ONLY for extraordinary and verifiable reasons. Late
papers will not be accepted.
Campus Resource: The Writer’s Resource Lab is open to all students. The lab is located in the
Language Arts Building (LAB), the website is accessible through the CSULB webpage.
Grading: Your papers will be graded on a clear articulation of a thesis, effective use of evidence
to support your thesis, analytical depth of the critique, and the development and organization
(including writing clarity and cohesiveness) of the essays.
Format: All written work should be typed, double-spaced, with 12-point font size. Fonts such as
Times and Times Roman are acceptable. Be sure to have 1” margins. Paginate your essay (page
numbers) and staple the papers together. Only hard copies of all written assignments will be
accepted. Disks and email attachments are not acceptable.
READING ASSIGNMENTS AND SCHEDULE
CONSTRUCTING THE HISTORICAL BODY
Week 1
August 30: Introduction
Week 2
September 6: The Body in History
Laura Gowing, Common Bodies: Women, Touch, and Power in 17th Century England, 2003.
Week 3
September 13: Social Construction of the Body
Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, 1977, pp. 3-131.
Elaine Scarry, “Injury and the Structure of War,” Representations No. 10 (Spring, 1985): pp.1-51
(e-reserves or JSTOR).
Week 4
September 20: Social Construction of the Body Part II
Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, 1977, pp.135-308.
Susan R. Bordo, “The Body and the Reproduction of Femininity: A Feminist Appropriation of
Foucault,” Gender/Body/Knowledge: Feminist Reconstructions of Being and Knowing, ed. Alison
M. Jaggar and Susan R. Bordo. New Brunswick, NJ.: Rutgers University Press, 1992: pp.13-33
(e-reserves).
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Week 5
September 27: Social Construction of Sex
Thomas Lacquer, Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud, 1990.
Judith Butler, “Bodies the Matter,” (1993) Feminist Theory and the Body: A Reader, eds. Janet
Price and Margrit Shildrick. NY: Routledge, 1999: pp.235-245 (e-reserves).
FEMINIST BODY STUDIES
Week 6
October 4: Feminist Body Studies Part 1: Female Bodies and Science
Londa Scheibinger, ed. Feminism and the Body, 2000, pp. 1-151.
Jana Sawicki, “Disciplining Mothers: Feminism and the New Reproductive Technologies” (1991)
Feminist Theory and the Body: A Reader, eds. Janet Price and Margrit Shildrick. NY: Routledge,
1999: pp.190-202 (e-reserves).
Week 7
October 11: Feminist Body Studies Part 2: Representations
Londa Scheibinger, ed. Feminism and the Body, 2000, pp.155-292.
Week 8
October 18: Feminist Body Studies Part 3: Gender and Cultural Practice
Londa Scheibinger, ed. Feminism and the Body, 2000, pp.317-491.
Pamela L. Moore, “Feminist Bodybuilding, Sex, and the Interruption of Investigative
Knowledge,” Building Bodies, ed. Pamela L. Moore. New Brunswick, NJ.: Rutgers University
Press, 1997: pp. 74-86 (e-reserves).
WEEK 9 OCTOBER 25th CLASS CANCELED
THE MALE BODY
Week 10
November 1: The Male Body
John Kasson, Houdini, Tarzan, and the Perfect Man: The White Male Body and the Challenge of
Modernity in America, 2002.
Susan Bordo, “Reading the Male Body,” Building Bodies, ed. Pamela L. Moore. New Brunswick,
NJ.: Rutgers University Press, 1997: pp. 31-73 (e-reserves).
COLONIALISM
Week 11
November 8: Colonial Bodies
Ann Laura Stoler, Carnal Knowledge and Imperial Power: Race and the Intimate in Colonial
Rule, 2002.
Janet Price and Margrit Shildrick, “Mapping the Colonial Body: Sexual Economies and the State
in Colonial India,” Feminist Theory and the Body: A Reader, eds. Janet Price and Margrit
Shildrick. NY: Routledge, 1999: pp.388-398 (e-reserves).
BEAUTY CULTURE
Week 12
November 15: Cosmetic Surgery
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Elizabeth Haiken, Venus Envy: A History of Cosmetic Surgery. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
University Press, 1999.
Kathy Davis, “ ‘My Body is my Art’: Cosmetic Surgery as Feminist Utopia?” Feminist Theory
and the Body: A Reader, eds. Janet Price and Margrit Shildrick. NY: Routledge, 1999: 454-465
(e-reserves).
WEEK THIRTEEN MEETING CANCELED FOR THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
Week 14
November 29: Beauty and Race
Maxine Craig, Ain’t I a Beauty Queen? Black Women, Beauty, and the Politics of Race. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2002.
Kathy Peiss, “Making Faces: The Cosmetics Industry and the Cultural Construction of Gender,
1890-1930,” Unequal Sisters: A Multicultural Reader in U.S. Women’s History (3rd Edition). Ed.
Vicki Ruiz and Ellen Carol DuBois. NY: Routledge, 2000: 324-345 (e-reserves).
THE BODY PERFORMED
Week 15
December 6: Freaks and the Extraordinary Body
Rosemary Thomson Extraordinary Bodies: Figuring Physical Disability in American Culture
and Literature. NY: Columbia University Press, 1997.
Elizabeth Grosz, “Intolerable Ambiguity: Freaks as/at the Limit,” Freakery: Cultural Spectacles
of the Extraordinary Body, ed. Rosemarie Garland Thomson. NY: NYU Press, 1996: pp. 55-66
(e-reserves).
Week 16
December 13: Performance and the Pornographic Body
bell hooks, “Selling Hot Pussy: Representations of Black Female Sexuality in the Cultural
Marketplace,” The Politics of Women’s Bodies: Sexuality, Appearance and Behavior, ed. Rose
Weitz. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003: pp.122-132 (e-reserves).
Richard Dyer, “Monroe and Sexuality,” (1986) Heavenly Bodies: Film Stars and Society, 2nd
Edition. NY: Routledge, 2004: 17-63 (e-reserves).
Richard Leppert and George Lipsitz, “ ‘Everybody’s Lonesome for Somebody’: Age, the Body,
and Experience in the Music of Hank Williams. Popular Music Vol. 9, no. 3 (Oct. 1990): 259274 (e-reserves or JSTOR).
Victoria Pitts, “Modern Primitivism and the Deployment of the Other,” In the Flesh: The Cultural
Politics of Body Modification. NY: Palgrave, 2003: 119-149 (e-reserves).
FINAL PAPER DUE DECEMBER 20th, 2006 BY 9:00PM