University of Hawai‘i at Manoa | Department of English

ENG 320: Introduction to English Studies

Semester: Fall 2005
Sec: 001 Time: MWF 8:30 - 9:20 pm Place: Kuy 408 CRN: 72241
Sec: 002 Time: MWF 10:30 - 11:20 pm Place: Kuy 304 CRN: 72242

Instructor: John Zuern
Office: Kuykendall 219 Office Hours: MWF 9:30 - 10:20 (and by appointment)
Email (the best way to contact me): zuern@hawaii.edu Telephone: 956-3019

Reading Guide for Butler, from Gender Trouble

Key Terms

discursive formation
feminism (compare Sedgwick)
foundationalist fiction
identity
identity politics
imitation (compare Aristotle on mimesis)
iteration
masculine vs. feminine
ontology
patriarchy
performance
production vs. representation by the law
repetition
subversion
subversive bodily acts
subject
woman

Questions

How does Butler's position on the relationship between sex and gender compare to Sedgwick's?
What, for Butler, is "gender" made up of?
What are the implications for personal identity in Butler's theory?
What kinds of experiences do you imagine might interrupt the ongoing repetition of an individual's gender and sexual identity?
Why would the phenomenon of drag be an important focus for Butler's analysis?
What are the implications of Butler's ideas for "straight" people with apparently unproblematic gender identities? Is a "straight" identity also a construction?
What aspects of Blu's Hanging and Prime Time Apparitions seem to relate to Butler's theory?

Created by John Zuern, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Department of English
Duplication for teaching purposes is permitted as long as this notice is included in all copies.

last updated 11/16/05 by jz