Today I'll be teaching the _Archaeology of Knowledge_ to my graduate
seminar. Although it is the first time I have ever taught the text, I have
read it a handful of times.
Yesterday, in the student union where I work, I bumped into an acquaintance
of mine, a professor of sociology. When it came up that I was teaching the
_Archaeology_, she replied, "I didn't know anyone assigned that book
anymore."
She had a point, there is probably good reason not to assign the
_Archaeology_. Its concepts--the discursive formation, esp--seem dated. If
you want a text whose concepts you can immediately plug in to your own work,
the _Archaeology_ is not for you.
If, on the other hand, (and this is what I wish I'd told her) you want to
appreciate Foucault's thought, I think AK is essential. Not that you can't
appreciate the stuff of the mid-1970s without it, but there is in fact a
methodological continuity to Foucault's work, and (for me at least) the AK
has deepened my appreciation of what followed it.
One text that helped me appreciate the AK: the Brazilian lectures of 1973
collected as "Truth and Juridical Forms." These lectures seem to be
janus-faced: looking back to AK and forward to the mid-70s.
Finally, I've tried to read A Thousand Plateaus several times, and never
understood it. Perhaps I should try again.
Best,
Dave Tell
On 1/28/09 4:38 AM, "Chetan Vemuri" <aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I'll definitely check out "Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western
> Literature"
>
> On Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 4:38 AM, Chetan Vemuri
> <aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>
>> I've read A Thousand Plateaus!
>> One of my favorites actually, and I'm disappointed many still write it off
>> as part of the eccentric work done with Guattari, while celebrating
>> "Difference and Repetition" or "The Logic of Sense".
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 10:58 PM, michael bibby
>> <shmickeyd@xxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>>
>>> I should like to add another 'companion', let us say, which sits quite
>>> comfortably on a book-shelf alongside the Archaeology besides Mimesis, and
>>> that is A Thousand Plateaus. These are books which I have come to read
>>> together and see as parts of a much larger text which cuts accross the
>>> slender space in which their individual covers dont quite enclose them but
>>> see them open upon one another as they enter into mutually enhancing
>>> relations with each other.
>>>
>>> --- On Tue, 27/1/09, Chetan Vemuri <aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>
>>> From: Chetan Vemuri <aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx>
>>> Subject: [Foucault-L] Archaeology of Knowledge and use of its overall
>>> program
>>> To: "Mailing-list" <foucault-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>> Received: Tuesday, 27 January, 2009, 12:21 AM
>>>
>>> Some think The Archaeology of Knowledge is a quirky text whose program can
>>> be used in parts and that its impractical to apply his entire method as
>>> detailed in the entire book.
>>> I disagree with this criticism as I think there are successful ways of
>>> utilizing the full program and potent of The Archaeology.
>>> any ideas?
>>>
>>> --
>>> Chetan Vemuri
>>> West Des Moines, IA
>>> aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx
>>> (515)-418-2771
>>> "You say you want a Revolution! Well you know, we all want to change the
>>> world"
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Foucault-L mailing list
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Stay connected to the people that matter most with a smarter inbox.
>>> Take a look http://au.docs.yahoo.com/mail/smarterinbox
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Foucault-L mailing list
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Chetan Vemuri
>> West Des Moines, IA
>> aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx
>> (515)-418-2771
>> "You say you want a Revolution! Well you know, we all want to change the
>> world"
>>
>
>
--
Dave Tell
Dept. of Communication Studies
The University of Kansas
http://www.people.ku.edu/~davetell
seminar. Although it is the first time I have ever taught the text, I have
read it a handful of times.
Yesterday, in the student union where I work, I bumped into an acquaintance
of mine, a professor of sociology. When it came up that I was teaching the
_Archaeology_, she replied, "I didn't know anyone assigned that book
anymore."
She had a point, there is probably good reason not to assign the
_Archaeology_. Its concepts--the discursive formation, esp--seem dated. If
you want a text whose concepts you can immediately plug in to your own work,
the _Archaeology_ is not for you.
If, on the other hand, (and this is what I wish I'd told her) you want to
appreciate Foucault's thought, I think AK is essential. Not that you can't
appreciate the stuff of the mid-1970s without it, but there is in fact a
methodological continuity to Foucault's work, and (for me at least) the AK
has deepened my appreciation of what followed it.
One text that helped me appreciate the AK: the Brazilian lectures of 1973
collected as "Truth and Juridical Forms." These lectures seem to be
janus-faced: looking back to AK and forward to the mid-70s.
Finally, I've tried to read A Thousand Plateaus several times, and never
understood it. Perhaps I should try again.
Best,
Dave Tell
On 1/28/09 4:38 AM, "Chetan Vemuri" <aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I'll definitely check out "Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western
> Literature"
>
> On Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 4:38 AM, Chetan Vemuri
> <aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>
>> I've read A Thousand Plateaus!
>> One of my favorites actually, and I'm disappointed many still write it off
>> as part of the eccentric work done with Guattari, while celebrating
>> "Difference and Repetition" or "The Logic of Sense".
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 10:58 PM, michael bibby
>> <shmickeyd@xxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>>
>>> I should like to add another 'companion', let us say, which sits quite
>>> comfortably on a book-shelf alongside the Archaeology besides Mimesis, and
>>> that is A Thousand Plateaus. These are books which I have come to read
>>> together and see as parts of a much larger text which cuts accross the
>>> slender space in which their individual covers dont quite enclose them but
>>> see them open upon one another as they enter into mutually enhancing
>>> relations with each other.
>>>
>>> --- On Tue, 27/1/09, Chetan Vemuri <aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>
>>> From: Chetan Vemuri <aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx>
>>> Subject: [Foucault-L] Archaeology of Knowledge and use of its overall
>>> program
>>> To: "Mailing-list" <foucault-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>> Received: Tuesday, 27 January, 2009, 12:21 AM
>>>
>>> Some think The Archaeology of Knowledge is a quirky text whose program can
>>> be used in parts and that its impractical to apply his entire method as
>>> detailed in the entire book.
>>> I disagree with this criticism as I think there are successful ways of
>>> utilizing the full program and potent of The Archaeology.
>>> any ideas?
>>>
>>> --
>>> Chetan Vemuri
>>> West Des Moines, IA
>>> aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx
>>> (515)-418-2771
>>> "You say you want a Revolution! Well you know, we all want to change the
>>> world"
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Foucault-L mailing list
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Stay connected to the people that matter most with a smarter inbox.
>>> Take a look http://au.docs.yahoo.com/mail/smarterinbox
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Foucault-L mailing list
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Chetan Vemuri
>> West Des Moines, IA
>> aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx
>> (515)-418-2771
>> "You say you want a Revolution! Well you know, we all want to change the
>> world"
>>
>
>
--
Dave Tell
Dept. of Communication Studies
The University of Kansas
http://www.people.ku.edu/~davetell