Gender and Aesthetic Theory

Catalog description

This seminar asks about the historical role played by feminine figures—muses, maidens, mothers, lovers—in the construction of aesthetic epiphanies and metamorphoses. The notion of Woman as a conduit for inspiration has a long theological, philosophical and literary tradition, beginning with the early Christian topos of the Virgin Mary as an 'aquaduct of grace.' We will interrogate this topos in search of a different and deeper understanding of what it has meant, historically, to be transformed by a work of art. Authors to be explored include Dante, Rousseau, Goethe, Schopenhauer, Wagner, Bachmann, Lacan, Irigaray, Kristeva, Kittler, and Latour. Discussions and readings in English.