PHIL 282 - Afro-Caribbean Voices in Francophone Phenomenology

Semester Offered: Spring
0.5 unit(s)

(Same as AFRS 282 and FFS 282) French phenomenology is a rich and complex lineage of inquiry, whose methodological influence can be traced in a variety of disciplines, from Continental philosophy, where it originates, to sociology, psychology, and virtually every other social science and humanity. Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty are the figures predominantly considered key to this lineage. This course is aimed at decolonizing this representation of “French” phenomenology by introducing students to the specific questions and methods developed by Afro-Caribbean “francophone” phenomenologists, from the 1930s through the 2010s. The contributions of Léopold Sédar Senghor, Aimé Césaire, Franz Fanon, and Éduard Glissant, as well as their influence on contemporary anglophone decolonial theorists, including Sylvia Winter, Saidyia Hartman, and Christina Sharpe, will thus emerge as a distinct constellation within the phenomenological tradition. Students learn how these Afro-Caribbean thinkers both shared the agenda of phenomenology and challenged some of its Eurocentric premises. In its historical progression, the exploration of this Afro-Caribbean contellation illuminates an approach to the philosophy of race on phenomenological premises. Giovanna Borradori.

First six-week course.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS