Experiments in Theoretical Writing
ES 203
English Department
In this two-part workshop, we will explore different ways that theorists have experimented with form, language, structure, strictures, constraints, and possibilities in their written work. We will explore works written collaboratively; consider auto-theory and writing that mixes autobiographical elements with speculation; and look at the generative role of restraint and constraint. Readings include works by Roland Barthes, Maggie Nelson, Christina Sharpe, Lauren Berlant, Kathleen Stewart, and the Committee to Investigate Atmosphere.
In our first session, we will analyze how our writers deploy different experiments in the writing of theory—closely reading how their texts are put together, and asking what relation their experimental form has to the theoretical content therein. In our second session, Prof. Brinkema will present her own work and we will open up the discussion to questions of methodology, canon, the challenges and possibilities of experimental writing, and how experiments in the writing of theory might relate to pedagogy.
Required reading, session 1:
- Christina Sharpe, Introduction, from In The Wake
- Maggie Nelson, selections from The Argonauts
- Roland Barthes, selections from Roland Barthes by Roland Barthes
- Lauren Berlant/Kathleen Stewart, selections from The Hundreds
- Sofia Samatar/Kate Zambreno, selections from Tone
Required reading, session 2 (all works by Eugenie Brinkema)
- "26, more or less"
- "the recent dead and papercraft" [available online]
- "How I have not written certain of my readings" [available online]
- "Grid, Table, Failure, Line" from Life-Destroying Diagrams
Eugenie Brinkema is Professor of Contemporary Literature and Media at MIT in the United States and a fellow at the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis. Her research in film studies and critical theory focuses on violence, affect, sexuality, aesthetics, and ethics. In addition to numerous articles and essays, she has published two books: The Forms of the Affects (2014) and Life-Destroying Diagrams (2022), both with Duke University Press. She is currently writing a book about color.