Syllabus for Cloud’s Course: Rhetoric and Ideology

SPE 390R RHETORIC AND IDEOLOGY

Spring 2000 • Wednesdays, 2-5 • CMA 5.156

Professor Dana Cloud • CMA 7.105 • 471-1947 dcloud@mail.utexas.edu

Course Description:

This course will explore Marxist contributions to rhetorical theory and criticism, with particular emphasis on a survey of the concepts of ideology and hegemony. We will contrast rhetorical notions of human discursive agency with classical, structuralist, and post-structuralist Marxist and Marxist-influenced discourse theories. We will also discuss what the notion of ideology, as a mode of rhetorical influence, contributes to rhetorical theory and criticism.

Course Requirements:

            • two short (5-7 pp.) essays exploring the intersection of ideology and rhetoric                               (15% each)

            • one final seminar paper (20-25 pp.) performing a rhetorical criticism of some                                ideological artifact(s) (40%)

            • one in-class report with handout covering readings and providing examples

                        (20%)

• regular preparation and contribution to readings-based contributions to class

discussion

Texts (available at the Co-Op; also Amazon.com, Powell’s online):

Aune, James. Rhetoric and Marxism. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1995.

Barrett, Michele. Women’s Oppression Today. London: Verso, 1990. 0-86091-730-4.

Butler, Judith. Bodies that Matter. New York: Routledge, 1993.

Eagleton, Terry. Ideology: An Introduction. London: Verso, 1991. ISBN 0860915387

Eagleton, Terry. The Illusions of Postmodernism. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996. ISBN 0631203230

Ebert, Teresa. Ludic Feminism and After. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1996. ISBN 0472065769

German, Lindsey et al. Revolutionary Ideas of Frederick Engels. special issue of the journal International Socialism #65, December 1994.

Gramsci, Antonio. Selections from the Prison Notebooks. Trans Hoare and Nowell-Smith. NY: International Publishers, 1987 ISBN 071780397X

(optional) Gramsci, Antonio. Further Selections from the Prison Notebooks. Trans. Boothman. London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1995. ISBN 0853157960

Guillaumin, Collette. Racism, Sexism, Power and Ideology. New York: Routledge, 1995.

Hall, Stuart. Policing the Crisis. London: MacMillan, 1978. ISBN 0333220609.

Jameson, Fredric. The Cultural Turn: Selected Writings on the Postmodern. London: Verso. ISBN 1859841821

Laclau, Ernesto and Chantal Mouffe. Hegemony and Socialist Strategy. Trans. Moore and Cammack. London: Verso, 1985. ISBN 086091 796 X

Said, Edward. Culture and Imperialism. New York: Knopf; Dist. Random House. 1993.

Thompson, John B. Ideology and Modern Culture. Stanford UP, 1990.0-8047-1846-6

Trotsky, Leon. Literature and Revolution. London: RedWords, 1991. ISBN 1872208010

Tucker, Robert. The Marx-Engels Reader. 2nd (or most recent)  ed. NY: Norton, 1978. ISBN 039309040X

Williams, Raymond. Marxism and Literature. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1977. 0198760612

Plus a series of small course packets at Longhorn Copies as needed.

Schedule of Readings and Topics • Rhetoric and Ideology 

August 30: Course Introduction • Rhetoric-Ideology tensions

September 6: Meet outside at Spiderhouse • Materialist approach to discourse

                        Read: Aune 1-44, Eagleton “Ideology” 1-62

September 13: Classical Ideology Critique I

                            Read: Eagleton “Id”63-92; Tucker 3-6, 12-15, 53-65,

                                    143-202, 469-500, 683-717, 725-768

September 20: Classical Ideology Critique II

                             Read: Rees in German 47-82; Trotsky 9-88, 191-end

September 27: Hegemony Theory

                            Read: Eagleton “Id” 93-124; Aune 45-74; Gramsci intro and

                                    3-122, 206-276

                            Hall 1, Lears, Murphy, Condit in  coursepack

October 4: Frankfurt School

                        Read: Aune 75-92, 117-142; Eagleton “Id” 125-158

                        Horkheimer & Adorno, Marcuse, Jameson in coursepack

October 11: British Cultural Studies

                        Read: Williams, Hall 2 in coursepack

October 18: Althusserian Structuralism

                        Read: Althusser, Clegg in coursepack                    *essay 1 due

October 25: American Rhetorical Ideology Studies

                        Read: Thompson 1-121, 216-end; Burke in coursepack

November 1: Post-Marxisms and Ideology Critique

                        Read: Laclau and Mouffe; Eagleton “Id” 193-231; “Ill” all;

                        Cloud in coursepack; Jameson “Turn” 2, 3

November 8: Gender, Sexuality, Ideology

                        Read: Barrett; Guillamin part II; Butler 1, 7, 8; Ebert 3-44,                                129-180

November 15: Racism and Ideology

                        Read: Guillamin part I; Gray, Cloud 2 in coursepack

November 22: NO CLASS

November 29: Culture and Imperialism                             *essay 2 due

                        Read: Said

December 6: Rhetoric and Materialist Ideology Critique

                        Read Wander et al., Crowley, Cloud 3 in coursepack

                                    Aune 143-150; Eagleton “Id” 221-end.