Last Week, This week and more ...

Hi,
LAST WEEK:
Reflecting on last week's dense reading of Mauss's text it seemed useful to note a certain 'class' distinction among those Romans who were subjects because they had access to accumulated family 'persons' or masks (as cultural property). Here the subject is an inherited privilege it seems.

The notion of 'ancestors' suddenly jumped off the page -as something I hadn't expected to discuss- and seems exciting, particularly according to our multicultural seminar group who may all have different cultural responses to this idea.

I also wanted to note interesting suggestions last week re DNA (that I've overlooked in my 'subject' interpretations and essay questions so far) and also encourage you to see Grayson' Perry's amazing 'brandscape' piece currently installled at Victoria Miro (well worth a look) showing the Subject-as-a-biography-dominated-by-consumerism.

PSYCHO:
Looking forward to going through this week's Lacanian Hitchcock text. Don't worry, all will be revealed. Please have a go at reading it through, alone or together with colleagues. If you know any student for whom English is their 2nd language it might be rewarding to help them read it through as teaching and helping others is often the best way to learn for ourselves. Mark anything of interest, difficulty or clarity. also, of course, watch the classic movie in light of the essay's points and note the scenes that Kaja Silverman refers to in the essay.

FILMS IN GENERAL: The use of films in this course is important and if you look down through the curriculum you can pull out a list that are worth watching. there seems to be a special showing of Michael Haneke's 'Cache' (Hidden) at the Renoir cinema (a groovy independent in Bruswick Square just off Russell Square). It's on next Sunday morning and followed by a discussion with a professor who recently published a book on Haneke (thehottest name in cunema right now) so should be worth attending! see: http://socialistfilm.blogspot.com/ re this event. Unfortunately we will not have tome to see all the suggested films during class times so this kind of thing is a good opportunity. Good also that someone mentioned the 'Colours' films by Kieslowski as a way of theorising the current possibilities of a Subject.

Finally, I made a hash of quoting David Hume on skepticism last week (when trying to explain Deleuze's interest in Hume's refusal of Knowledge, so here is a version of the quote from - James Boswell 'An Account of my last interview with David Hume, Esq.
Partly recorded in my Journal, partly enlarged from my memory 3 March 1777':

"I had a strong curiosity to be satisfied if he persisted in disbelieving a future state even when he had death before his eyes. I was persuaded from what he now said, and from his manner of saying it, that he did persist. I asked him if it was not possible that there might be a future state. He answered it was possible that a piece of coal put upon the fire would not burn; and he added that it was a most unreasonable fancy that we should exist for ever."