B031440 - PHENOMENOLOGY OF TECHNOLOGY

Italian

Cyberfeminism: critical perspectives on the posthuman.

The course will be focused on the contemporary feminist thought in its "cyborg" variant: what (decisive) contribution has cyberfeminism made to the general theory of the posthuman - starting from the manifesto by Haraway? What are the keywords of the feminist perspective in its radical and intersectional problematization of the classical distinctions between human and machine, organic and artificial, natural and cultural?

- Donna HARAWAY, "Manifesto Cyborg. Donne, tecnologie e biopolitiche del corpo" (Feltrinelli 2010)

- Rosi BRAIDOTTI, "Il Postumano, vol. 1" (DeriveApprodi 2020)

- N. Katherine HAYLES, "How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics", capp. I, II, IV, X (University of Chicago Press 1999 - the text will be provided as PDF)

Un testo a scelta per la redazione del saggio critico, tra:

- Donna HARAWAY, "Tentacular Thinking: Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Chthulucene", 2016 (the text will be provided as PDF)

- Susanna PAASONEN, "Revising Cyberfeminism", 2011 (the text will be provided as PDF)

- Rosi BRAIDOTTI, "Posthuman Feminist Theory", 2015 (the text will be provided as PDF)

- Stacy ALAIMO, "Trans-corporeal Feminisms and the Ethical Space of Nature", 2008 (the text will be provided as PDF)

- Karen BARAD, "Posthumanist Performativity: Toward an Understanding of How Matter comes to Matter", 2008 (the text will be provided as PDF)

- Vicky KIRBY, "Telling Flesh. The Body as the Scene of Writing", 2018 (the text will be provided as PDF)

- Sadie PLANT, "Beyond the Screens: Film, Cyberpunk, and Cyberfeminism", 1993 (the text will be provided as PDF)

- Allucquère Rosanne STONE, "Will the Real Body Please Stand Up? Boundary Stories About Virtual Cultures", 1991 (the text will be provided as PDF)

Teaching materials will be available on Moodle. Signing up to the course on Moodle is therefore recommended.

The course aims to introduce students to contemporary feminist thought from the "cyborg" perspective, that is, from the problematization - enabled by and (bio)technology - of the traditionally sedimented and assumed limits and distinctions between human and machine, organic and artificial, nature and culture. In this way it will be possible to focus on the decisive contribution of feminism to the theory of the posthuman. Tools will be provided for analytical reading of texts, understanding of the fundamental categories of feminist thought, and for the development of a critical position, to be articulated in a short written essay and upon oral exam.

Basic knowledge of 20th-century philsophy.

Lectures followed by open discussion; development of a short essay to be presented in the classroom. Studentes should sign up to the course on Moodle.

The oral exami will last about half an hour and will be divided into two parts.

1. The first part will focus on the short essay that the student has presented in class (chosen from the list of optional essays provided by me), which will be graded on a scale from 1 (minimum grade) to 5 (maximum grade) following these criteria: a) formal correctness; b) consequentiality and clarity of reasoning; c) use of the categories developed in class.

2. The second part will test comprehension, reworking and problematization of the compulsory texts, with reference to the conceptual and critical tools developed in class.

The course will be focused on the contemporary feminist thought from the "cyborg" perspective, that is, from the problematization - enabled by and (bio)technology - of the traditionally sedimented and assumed limits and distinctions between human and machine, organic and artificial, nature and culture. In this way it will be possible to focus on the decisive contribution of feminism to the theory of the posthuman. Some classic texts that provide different (converging or dissonant) views on the problematic link between technology and gender will be addressed, highlighting the implicit links between feminist, technological and environmental issues from an intersectional perspective.