Thanks very much for the suggestion, Ilgin. I know of Rodriguez's book, but I have yet to read it. I'm going to head over to the library to have a look for it (along with Ethics, Subjectivity and Truth...).
Foucault's notion of the docile body certainly needs to be rethought, or at least developed, in relation to the experiences of inmates in American prisons. That said--and I am something of a newcomer to Foucault, so pardon my naivety--it seems that Foucault's projects on discipline, even power, do not concern experience, necessarily. Why does he not consider texts written by prisoners themselves as part of his project? As I mentioned, I'm aware that he finds autobiography deeply problematic ("Infamous Men"), but this still seems to be something of a gap. Ideas?
Cheers,
Simon
Ilgin Yorukoglu <ilgin_y@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Simon,
Have you also read "Forced Passages" by Dylan Rodriguez? The book is about the radical prison thought, and the racism of the criminal justice system in the US. Although Rodriguez is in line with Foucault some times, especially with the way the latter uses genealogy, he finds Foucault?s thought on incarceration not suitable for understanding what's really going on (which is, basically, destruction of these bodies). I thought it might be helpful,
Best,
Ilgin
----- Original Message ----
From: Simon Rolston
To: Mailing-list
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 12:57:18 PM
Subject: Re: [Foucault-L] Introduction
Hi Elif, great suggestions. I'm not familiar with Genet's essay, though. I've read his introduction to Soledad Brother. Is that the one you mean?
Thanks for the help.
Best,
Simon
elif sendur wrote:
Hi Simon,
I am Elif from Binghamton University Comparative Literature Phd Program.
Discipline and Punish is a good start but I also recommend Jean Genet's
essays and not to forget, Foucault's interviews in Power/ Knowledge.
best,
elif sendur
On 1/19/07, Simon Rolston wrote:
>
> I'm a graduate student in the English department at the University of
> British Columbia, Canada, and I'm currently working on (and interested in)
> American prisoner autobiographies. At the moment I'm writing my qualifying
> papers (which are similar to comprehensive exams), one of which is on
> Foucault and discipline. Although Foucault is very suspicious of
> autobiography, I think his work is quite useful for my project. For example,
> I'm interested in questioning the assumption that prisoner writings are
> emancipatory texts, that writing about oneself when imprisoned is somehow a
> 'freeing' activity. This is not to undermine the work accomplished by
> American inmates. Rather it is to acknowledge the difficulties a prisoner
> faces when writing (and even speaking) from inside the belly of the beast.
> If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.
> Thanks for letting me join up!
> Best,
>
> Simon Rolston
>
>
> ---------------------------------
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