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When, in 1985, Jürgen Habermas published his lectures on The Aesthetic Discourse of Modernity, he pursued a double aim. He offered a critique of French Theory while at the same time providing a foundation for a normative category of modernity in the tradition of Hegel. Curiously there is one subject he does not touch on, though it seems necessary for a sufficient understanding of modernity: the realm of art and literature. This course will develop a critique of Habermas’ normative notion of modernity through re-readings of texts by Nietzsche, Benjamin, Horkheimer/Adorno, Derrida, Bataille and Foucault to elaborate an alternative category of aesthetic modernity. Taught in English. Reading knowledge of German and French is not required, but recommended.