- Inter-faculty Studies in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
- Bachelor's degree, first cycle programme, Computer Science
- Bachelor's degree, first cycle programme, Mathematics
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Computer Science
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Mathematics
Eroticism as a notion in culture theory and criticism 4018-KON312-CLASS-OG
Conception of the seminar is based on the presupposition that – independently from the everyday usage of the word – eroticism is a key term in cultural theory and criticism, opening one of the main problematic fields. Eroticism can be thus understood as an attempt at “civilizing the sexual body”, it is a cultural construct corresponding to the most difficult aspect of the bodily condition of man, like a symbolic super-structure of the body, sometimes in blatant opposition to the body, as a revolt agains the instinctive and impulsive determination of the human individual.
Our course is at the same time an attempt at tracing a history of the civilization rooted in the Mediterranean and formulating one of its possible definitions. We will take as a departing point the formation of cultural codifications of love in the Middle Ages; yet we will read them in the perspective of the newest humanities, such as the interpretation of Giorgio Agamben.
In the span of the cultural history, eroticism becomes increasingly independent of the body; it loses its link to the physiological reality and penetrates deeper into the spiritual sphere. We will try to understand the subtle interconnections involving the oscillation on the frontier erotic – mystical, oscillation leading, as the utmost result, to such ambivalent worls as the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa by Bernini.
Next we will examine the process in which the lonesome love becomes a source situation of modern subjectivity (reading, among other examples, the Letters of a Portuguese Nun). We will try to interpret the figure of D. Juan and the 120 days of Sodom as a clash between the non-quantifiable nature of modern concept of order, efficiency and quantity (“form of life” vs. the emergent concept of discipline).
Finally, we will sketch the landscape of critical reflection in the post-Freudian times, starting from Bataille, and such works as Eros and Civilization by Marcuse. We will as whether the eroticism, as a sphere of autonomy, authenticity and non-efficiency may be contrasted with the modern order of production and consumption, or, quite the opposite, it becomes assimilated by this order. Is it, together with sexuality, silenced and rejected as Foucault argued, or quite the opposite? Does it constitute the center or the margin of our culture? What does seduction mean for Baudrillard? Does seduction work between the writer and the reader, the master and the disciple? Does Eros become Erros, a figure of mistake opening the creative and innovative fields of culture?
Type of course
general courses
Learning outcomes
- basic knowledge on the place and role of the humanities, the social, exact and natural sciences in early and contemporary culture
- knowing the output of the greatest early and contemporary writers, philosophers and theologians
- understanding the relationships between cultural activities and changes in social life
- selecting and interpreting information from different textual, iconographic and electronic sources
- analysing artistic, philosophical and sociological texts using the appropriate research tools, and presenting the results of such work
- basic skills in using interdisciplinary research methods and tools to analyse phenomena of contemporary culture
- producing written papers: essays, short dissertations, reviews, scientific reports in Polish and in one of the "congress" languages
- understanding the need for continual education after graduation
- understanding the dynamics of scientific, cultural and social development and keeping up with new research methods and paradigms
- understanding the principles of tolerance and cultural differences
Assessment criteria
Evaluation based on the written work (essay).
Criteria of the evaluation:
- does the essay present an appreciation of a problem?
- does the essay present a coherent and argumentative analysis of the chosen problem?
- does the essay lead to a convincing conclusion?
Bibliography
Basic bibliography in criticism (choice):
Agamben G., Profanacje, trans. M. Kwaterko, Warszawa 2006; (fragments).
Agamben G., Stanze. La parola e il fantasma nella cultura occidentale (original version or any translation).
Barthes R., Fragmenty dyskursu miłosnego, trans. M. Bieńczyk, Warszawa 2011.
Bataille G., Historia erotyzmu, trans. I. Kania, Warszawa 2008.
Bielik-Robson A., Erros. Mesjański witalizm i filozofia, Kraków 2012.
Foucault M., Historia seksualności, trans. B. Banasiak et al., Warszawa 1995.
Marcuse H., Eros i cywilizacja, trans. H. Jankowska, Warszawa 1998.
Rougemont D. de, Miłość a świat kultury zachodniej, trans. Lesław Eustachiewicz, Warszawa 1968.
Steiner G., Nauki Mistrzów, przeł. J. Łoziński, Poznań 2007; (fragmenty).
Additional information
Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:
- Inter-faculty Studies in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
- Bachelor's degree, first cycle programme, Computer Science
- Bachelor's degree, first cycle programme, Mathematics
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Computer Science
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Mathematics
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: