2007 Handbooks

According to theorists of postmodernism, the contemporary era is characterized by our loss of faith in unifying, purposeful and clarifying belief-systems. We have long abandoned a shared commitment to tradition, religion, localism, and ethnicity, and now more recent value-systems like social progress and human improvement are also met with scepticism. Yet, different ways of synthesizing and re-directing human experience continue to arise, sometimes dredging up ancient values, sometimes contriving new ones. The aim of this unit is to consider some of the ways contemporary society, culture and politics attempt to re-synthesize human meaning, give it new values and a fresh orientation. Some of the themes we will look at might be: war, sex, art, economics, the body and the new spirituality. Readings will combine theoretical material with film, TV and print texts.