230337 Radical Rhetoric (S) (WiSe 2023/2024)

In this seminar, we will examine the rhetorics of radicalism. We will consider various texts to trace how radicalism is defined, staged, and embodied narratively. We will see whether one can speak of a poetics and politics of anger, what is the difference between expressions of activism, radicalism, and extremism, and what is the role of language in formulating protest. We will examine a variety of texts (lyric, narrative, drama) to investigate the architecture of radical thought & expression: how are new ideas articulated; what stylistic structures represent newness, violence, anger, critique. We will begin with the concept of (Aristotelian) rhetoric & radicalism to then expand our understandings via critiques of productivity & happiness (e.g., Sara Ahmed´s feminist killjoy), of dominant representations of violence ( e.g., TaNehisi Coates´ Between the World and Me), etc.

For those of you who would like a head start on the reading material, we will begin our discussions with Toni Morrison´s Beloved and TaNehisi Coates Between the World and Me.