Thursday 18 April 2013

Thematic Perspectives on the Individual

Hi All,

The following texts (essay, talks, and stories) focus on selected thematic perspectives on the individual. Please choose one PAIR of texts and comment on what the two texts have in common and what makes them different.


Here the selection:



1.1. Pico della Mirandola, "Oration on the Dignity of Man": http://vserver1.cscs.lsa.umich.edu/~crshalizi/Mirandola/1.2. Jesus - transcribed by author of Gospel of Matthew, "The Sermon on the Mount": http://www.loveallpeople.org/sermononthemount.html

2.1 Tillie Olsen, "Tell Me a Riddle" (short story OR movie) - NOT available for free -> see: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081611/2.2. Deepak Chopra, "Life after Death" (youtube): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xgnb-JI9glM

3.1. Anne Fausto-Sterling, "The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female Are Not Enough": http://capone.mtsu.edu/phollowa/5sexes.html3.2. Helen Fisher, "Why We Love, Why We Cheat" (TED talk): http://www.ted.com/talks/helen_fisher_tells_us_why_we_love_cheat.html

4.1. Franz Kafka, "Before the Law" (youtube-movie in German - but you can click on the English text in the comment section): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak6uO9k7zyUEnglish text also at: http://myweb.wvnet.edu/~jelkins/lawyerslit/exercises/kafka.htm4.2. Yukio Mishima, "Swaddeling Clothes" (short story): 

5.1. Arcadii Averchenko, "The Young Man Who Flew Past":http://www.101bananas.com/library2/youngman.html5.2. Hermann Hesse, "The Poet": http://www.101bananas.com/library2/poet.html

Feel free to add other pairs (complete with links) if you wish!

gudrun




1 comment:

  1. Anne Fausto-Sterling's 'The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female are not enough" puts forth a radical framework for classifying sex apart from the pre-existing order of dualism of male and female. She is convinced that for the people who are born intersexed, the widening the sex categories would create a more accepting society.

    It is a very interesting article. Before reading it, I thought I would be reading something about gender inequality. This article, however, has broadened my view of thinking and has made me think what would be going through intersexed people and how they are forced to be a male or female and suppress their qualities and instincts that come naturally with being who they are .

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