AD603 Critical Theory

Historical Context of Critical Theory

Rius (1976). Marx for Beginners: pp.94-142 + Glossary (.pdf, 13.1MB)

David Held (1980). Introduction to Critical Theory: Introduction pp.13-26; Chapter 2 pp.40-41. (.pdf, 3.2MB)

Max Horkheimer (1972). “Postscript” in Critical Theory: Selected Essays, pp.244-252. (.pdf, 1.7MB)

Theodor Adorno, from “Aesthetic Theory” in Adams and Searle (ed) Critical Theory since 1965, pp. 231-237. (.pdf, 2.0MB)

Theodor Adorno (1975). “Culture Industry Reconsidered” in New German Critique, pp.12-19. (.pdf, 3.6MB)

The Culture Studies Reader. Edited by Simon During. New York, Routledge, 1999, pp.31-32. (.pdf, 492KB)

The selection from the Cultural Studies Reader is a one and a half page summary/description of the culture industry that is helpful for decoding the readings by Adorno this week.

Recommended (reminder: this is no longer a required reading)

Max Horkheimer (1972). “Art and Mass Culture” in Critical Theory, pp.273-290. (.pdf, 5.8MB)

Walter Benjamin (2008). “The Work of Art in the Age of its Technological Reproducibility: Second Version” in Jennings, Doherty and Levin, pp.19-42; notes 42-45 (2007). (.pdf, 14.0MB)

Dan Graham (1987). “Legacies of Critical Practice in the 1980s” in Hal Foster (ed) Discussions in Contemporary Culture edited, pp.88-91. (.pdf, 1.3MB)

Recommended:

Angela McRobbie. “The Place of Walter Benjamin in Cultural Studies,” pp.77-78. (.pdf, 1.4MB)

The document above provides a brief introduction to Walter Benjamin and his work.

Walter Benjamin (1966). “The Author as Producer” in Reflections, pp.220-238. (.pdf, 7.0MB)

Recommended:

Andy Merrifield (2005). Guy Debord, Chapter 3: “It Never Said Anything Extreme,” pp.56-82. (.pdf, 5.5MB)

Chapter 3 from this biography of Debord by Merrifield provides a political and social context for Spectacle Society.

Freud for Beginners, pp.60-70, 155-165 (.pdf, 7.2MB)

Peter Gay (ed) (1989). The Freud Reader, pp.572-584 [unconscious] (.pdf, 4.5MB)

Peter Gay (ed)(1989). The Freud Reader, pp.628-658 [ego, id] (.pdf, 9.5MB)

Lacan (1936). “The Mirror Stage” in Adams and Searle, pp.734-738 (.pdf, 2.8MB)

Sean Homer (2005). “Why Lacan?” in Reading Lacan, pp.1-14 (.pdf, 3.3MB)

Recommended: [the missing links will be filled in over the course of the day]

Introducing Lacan

(This is like the Marx and Freud for Beginners series — you can read this instead of Why Lacan, if you like)

Sean Homer (2005). “The Imaginary” in Reading Lacan, pp.17-32 (.pdf, 3.3MB)

Sean Homer (2005). “The Subject of the Unconscious”

Slavoj Zizek (1989). “Looking Awry”

“Space, Knowledge, and Power” Interview with Paul Rabinow, Skyline, March 1982 (.pdf 6.4MB

“Of Other Spaces,” Diacritics, Vol.16, No.1 (Spring, 1986), pp.22-27 (.pdf 2MB)

All the above documents are password protected, please use Acrobat 7.0 or higher to open them (download the free Acrobat Reader at: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html)