Hello,
I first came across Foucault in my MA course. We read Discipline and Punish,
The History of Sexuality Volume 1 along with Power/Knowledge and that, for
most of us, was our first introduction to Foucault so you might wish to try
those works. From what I understand, Discipline and Punish is pretty much a
reworking of his theory as found earlier works. It's also a pretty
entertaining read and explains the basics of his theory quite nicely.
Teresa
> From: Jonathan Keesecker <courtyards@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Reply-To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 02:07:03 EDT
> To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: hello scholars!
>
> hello,
>
> i'm sorry to burst into your listserve uninvited, but i was hoping to find
> some help. when i stumbled across it some time ago i was impressed with
> everyone's knowledge of foucault and kept it as a bookmark for future
> reference. basically, i've read very little of foucault's writing, although
> i've read some secondary stuff as well as others' which has benifited from
> foucault. i'd like to break into reading foucault himself, but i'm not sure
> what i should begin with. i considered madness, but decided against it
> because it was early (i thought his writing might be more clear in later
> works). so i considered discipline, but was uncertain about that because it
> was so much later and might take for granted the reader's knowledge of his
> work. i began archaeology because i understood it to be the closest thing to
> an explanation of a methodology, but some portions were fairly difficult and
> i've heard that sheridan smith's english translation is pretty shady.
> finally, i considered rabinow's foucault reader, but while those who are
> familiar with foucault say that it is simple and good for a mere
> introduction, those who are not familiar with him already say that it is
> difficult.
>
> i was hoping someone could point me in the right direction.
>
> while i've read only portions of foucault's actual writing, i am somewhat
> familiar with the major themes of postmodernity. my background is
> philosophy, but i've also read on such foucault-influinced subjects as the
> New Historicism of literary theory. basically, i believe i have enough
> foundation to get into foucault, i'm just wondering where i should start.
>
> i'd appreciate any advice/response at all.
> thanks!
>
> jonathan f. keesecker
>
>
> ps. what about power/knowledge? i've read portions and it seemed not too
> unclear, but i've heard it can be difficult.
> ________________________________________________________________________
> Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
I first came across Foucault in my MA course. We read Discipline and Punish,
The History of Sexuality Volume 1 along with Power/Knowledge and that, for
most of us, was our first introduction to Foucault so you might wish to try
those works. From what I understand, Discipline and Punish is pretty much a
reworking of his theory as found earlier works. It's also a pretty
entertaining read and explains the basics of his theory quite nicely.
Teresa
> From: Jonathan Keesecker <courtyards@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Reply-To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 02:07:03 EDT
> To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: hello scholars!
>
> hello,
>
> i'm sorry to burst into your listserve uninvited, but i was hoping to find
> some help. when i stumbled across it some time ago i was impressed with
> everyone's knowledge of foucault and kept it as a bookmark for future
> reference. basically, i've read very little of foucault's writing, although
> i've read some secondary stuff as well as others' which has benifited from
> foucault. i'd like to break into reading foucault himself, but i'm not sure
> what i should begin with. i considered madness, but decided against it
> because it was early (i thought his writing might be more clear in later
> works). so i considered discipline, but was uncertain about that because it
> was so much later and might take for granted the reader's knowledge of his
> work. i began archaeology because i understood it to be the closest thing to
> an explanation of a methodology, but some portions were fairly difficult and
> i've heard that sheridan smith's english translation is pretty shady.
> finally, i considered rabinow's foucault reader, but while those who are
> familiar with foucault say that it is simple and good for a mere
> introduction, those who are not familiar with him already say that it is
> difficult.
>
> i was hoping someone could point me in the right direction.
>
> while i've read only portions of foucault's actual writing, i am somewhat
> familiar with the major themes of postmodernity. my background is
> philosophy, but i've also read on such foucault-influinced subjects as the
> New Historicism of literary theory. basically, i believe i have enough
> foundation to get into foucault, i'm just wondering where i should start.
>
> i'd appreciate any advice/response at all.
> thanks!
>
> jonathan f. keesecker
>
>
> ps. what about power/knowledge? i've read portions and it seemed not too
> unclear, but i've heard it can be difficult.
> ________________________________________________________________________
> Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com