Theory is Dead-Long Live Theory: Post Structuralist Rhetorical Practices

Alternate Description Here: http://biotelemetrica.pbwiki.com/PostStructuralistRhetoricalPractices

 

...verbal call or whistle, the one hailed always recognizes...who is being hailed. Louis Althusser, Ideology and State Apparatuses

 

"Hey, you there -- yea, you! You're interested in theory, cultural studies, all the big questions about the interrelations of culture, technology, biopower, information and language. But you're not sure what do do with that interest, now that the Chronicle of Higher Education sez (metaphorically speaking, of course) that "theory is dead?" One word, bub: rhetoric!"

 

Philosophically and pedagogically, this course will examine the history and legacy of rhetoric -- the word, the practices, the history -- specifically within post structuralist theoretical discourse (most succinctly, Deleuze, Derrida, Foucault, Guattari, Irrigaray, Lyotard and Ronell), paying particular attention to the Greek roots of post structuralist rhetoric in the Sophists, Plato, and Aristotle as well as New and Old World shamanism and "sorcery". (Bataille, Artaud, Deleuze & Guattari, Taussig)

 

Institutionally, the course hopes to build on a growing interest in theory within the field of rhetoric and composition that builds on the long interest of theory in rhetoric. Specifically, this course will respond to questions and scholarship focused by the inaugural "Rhetorical/Theory" conference, organized by former PSU PhD students to be held in October 2008.

 

Post Structuralist Rhetorical Practices Syllabus