Date: Sun, 04 Jan 1998 15:53:21 +1000
Subject: undergrad texts


I asked ages ago about undergrad textbooks on Foucault. I then got
completely buried under mountains of work and neglected to thank everybody
for their responses.

I should have specified perhaps that I wasn't actually looking to set a
book for a course - I just wanted to know what ones were around as I like
to keep up to date with what is happening in the secondary literature -
which is an interesting field of study in its own right. So if anybody
wants to mention any other texts and their opinions on those texts feel
free!! As a number of people suggested, the best way into Foucault is of
course to read Foucault himself. In a course I ran on Foucault last year
the set readings for each week were all by Foucault. The students in fact
had to harass me to get me to mention any secondary texts!

Jon - thanks for your kind comments about my own book - your email address
wasn't on your post so I have to say this to the whole list!! :-)  Re
<<parts of foucault  that aren't quite as 'sexy' as the others (to borrow
from caricaturist Miller). >> I have to admit that I personally find the
less 'sexy' bits of Foucault far more interesting. I get very bored with
the endless repetitions of power/knowledge/ genealogy etc etc! There's lots
of lovely stuff on the imagination and writing and so on in the earlier
Foucault!

Eric Angel mentions that it was Discipline and Punish and The History of
Sexuality that first got him interested in Foucault. For me it was two
texts - the first 'The Situation of Cuvier in the history of biology'
followed by _The Archaeology_ I thought the Archaeology was a wonderful
book - it was certainly the one that got me thoroughly hooked on Foucault.

Clare

***********************************************************
Clare O'Farrell
email:c.ofarrell-AT-qut.edu.au
web page: http://www.qut.edu.au/edu/cpol/foucault/
***********************************************************