RLMgB262 Foucault, Discourse Analysis and a Theory of Religion

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2023
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Taught online.
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Milan Fujda, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Milan Fujda, Ph.D.
Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Kristýna Čižmářová
Supplier department: Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
each even Tuesday 10:00–11:40 G21, except Tue 14. 11.
Prerequisites (in Czech)
! RLB262 Foucault and Religion
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 4/30, only registered: 0/30
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Michel Foucault is one of the most important thinkers of the 20th century. His thought has led to profound self-reflection and a significant rethinking of existing approaches in all social and humanistic disciplines. Today, Foucault's analyses of discourse, power and the formation of the self form the basis of a range of methodological approaches and theoretical ways of defining the object of inquiry. Familiarity with Foucault's thought is thus one of the fundamental prerequisites for understanding contemporary social science debates and analytical practices. In religious studies, Foucault's attention to the a priori ordering of thought (and talk) and its interconnectedness with power relations and the functioning of institutions has been constitutive of the entire tradition of postcolonial and gendered critical scholarship, deconstructing the discourse on religion itself and its hegemonic implications, as well as raising a whole new set of issues focusing on the constitution of the moral subject, bodily discipline, forms of surveillance and control, exploitation and marginalization, or the material dimension of established cultural practices.


Through close readings of selected Foucault's analyses, this course aims to convey a Copernican turn in the approach to historical material and its discourses and to unravel the principles of Foucault's methodology, which was never a finished project but was born through the gradual discovery of ways to find answers to the ever-deepening questions he gradually posed to his material. The gradual systematic analysis of Foucault's analytical procedures through a thorough reading of History of Sexuality I: The Will to Knowledge culminate in a student attempt at a Foucaultian analysis of part of her own thesis material.

Learning outcomes
Upon completion of the course, the student
  • understands the main principles and procedures of Foucault's archaeology of knowledge, genealogy and analysis of power;
  • they will have an understanding of the possibilities of using this so-called poststructural discursive analysis in the social sciences;
  • understand some of the influential ways in which it has been developed in religious studies; will be able to roughly perform this analysis.
    • Syllabus
    • (0) Organisational meeting.
    • (1) Introductory lecture: Foucault, archeology and genealogy, and contemporary social sciences.
    • (2) Discourse.
    • (3) Subject.
    • (4) Histrory and genealogy.
    • (5) Archeology.
    • (6) Social sciences and the birth of man.
    • (7) Discoursive a non-discoursive formations.
    • (8) Historical formations and their transformations.
    • (9) Power.
    • (10) Care of the self.
    • (11) Inspirations by Foucault I.
    • (12) Inspirations by Foucault II.
    Literature
      required literature
    • Dějiny sexuality. I., Vůle k vědění (Přid.) : Vůle k vědění : dějiny sexuality. I. info
      recommended literature
    • MCCUTCHEON, Russell T. "Religion" in theory and practice : demystifying the field for burgeoning academics. First published. Sheffield, UK: Equinox, 2018, xiii, 245. ISBN 9781781796825. info
    • Religion, theory, critique : classic and contemporary approaches and methodologies. Edited by Richard King. New York: Columbia University Press, 2017, xvi, 664. ISBN 9780231145428. info
    • FOUCAULT, Michel. Slova a věci. Translated by Jan Rubáš. Vyd. 1. Brno: Computer Press, 2007, v, 309. ISBN 9788025117132. info
    • DREYFUS, Hubert L., Michel FOUCAULT and Paul RABINOW. Michel Foucault : za hranicemi strukturalismu a hermeneutiky. Translated by Jan Hasala - Lucie Nová - Stanislav Polášek - Pavel Toman. Praha: Herrmann & synové, 2002, 388 stran. ISBN 9788087054208. info
    • FOUCAULT, Michel. Dohlížet a trestat :kniha o zrodu vězení. Translated by Čestmír Pelikán. Praha: Dauphin, 2000, 427 s. ISBN 80-86019-96-9. info
    • DELEUZE, Gilles. Foucault. V Praze: Herrmann & synové, 1996, 191 s. info
    • FOUCAULT, Michel. Myšlení vnějšku. Praha: Herrmann & synové, 1996, 303 s. info
    • FOUCAULT, Michel. Diskurs ; Autor ; Genealogie : tři studie. Edited by Michel Foucault. Vyd. 1. Praha: Svoboda, 1994, 115 s. ISBN 8020504060. info
    Teaching methods
    lectures, seminars
    Assessment methods
    Requirements for colloquium:
    (1) Active discussion during seminars (alternatively submitted position papers) (20 %).
    (2) Essay on a selected aspect of the Foucault's method or an essay employing Foucault's method (50 %).
    (3) Oral colloquium concerning the essay (30 %).
    Language of instruction
    Czech
    Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
    The course is taught once in two years.
    Teacher's information
    1. If absent during a seminar discussion, the student submits a position paper of three paragraphs: (a) the thesis of the author, (b) author's reasoning for the thesis, (c) critique of the author's thesis and reasoning.

    2. The length of the final essay corresponds approximately to the length of a conference paper (4 to 8 pages). The student can choose one of the two variants of the theme:

    (a)An analysis of some aspect of Foucault's method together with an analysis of its possible or actual application in religious studies.

    (b) An analysis of a part of the student's master theses' theme (or another theme of her/his interest) using Foucault's discourse analytical approach.

    The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2020, Spring 2025.
    • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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