Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1993 Toward Understanding Post-Structuralism and Curriculum. Wen-song Hwu Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Hwu, Wen-song, "Toward Understanding Post-Structuralism and Curriculum." (1993). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 5516. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/5516 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. 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Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Number 9401537 Toward understanding post-structuralism and curriculum Hwu, Wen-Song, Ph.D. The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical Col., 1993 UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 TOWARD UNDERSTANDING POST-STRUCTURALISM AND CURRICULUM A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Curriculum and Instruction b y Wen-Song Hwu B.Ed., National Taiwan Normal University, 1981 M.S., University of Wisconsin-Stout, 1986 May 1993 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to Dr. William Pinar, my mentor, for his unforgettable support, guidance and loving friendship. I would also like to thank Dr. Jacques Daignault for his understanding and help in transforming me into a person whom I would like to be. Dr. William Doll has significantly influenced my thought during this study. His constant encouragement, probing questions and father-like advice have helped me focus my study; he has shown me a direction for my career. Dr. Ted Aoki is a "true" teacher, who has helped me to "remember" who I really am in this study. I also thank Dr. Spencer Maxcy for his intellectually stimulating coffee- conversations with me. Dr. William Reynolds is appreciated for his help and encouragement throughout these years. I would also like to thank Drs. Frances Beck, William Beck, Marie Weiss, and Bernard Weiss for their constant emotional support during this study. Finally, I thank my parents and I dedicate this study to them. I hope someday they will be proud of me. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................ii TABLE OF CONTENTS...............................................................................................iii ABSTRACT........................................ ............................................................................. vii INTRODUCTION........................................ ................................................................... 1 B ackground...................................................................................................... 1 Jo u rn ey............................................................................................................. 5 Personal Experience.................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER ONE: HISTORICAL FORMATION OF POST-STRUCTURALIST THOUGHT 9 S cen ario............................................................................................................ 9 Abbreviated History of Structuralism........................................................ 1 2 Important Structuralists.......................................................................... 19 Ferdinand de Saussure......................................................................... 1 9 Claude Levi-Strauss.............................................................................. 2 2 Jacques Lacan......................................................................................... 2 4 Roland Barthes (early).................................................................. 2 6 Limits or Problems of Structuralism.......................................................... 2 7 C onclusion........................................................................................................ 3 7 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF CONTEMPORARY POST-STRUCTURALISM............................ 3 9 Critique of Reason or Enlightenment Rationality............................... 3 9 Rationality after the Enlightenment.............................................. 4 3 Phenomenology and the Rise of Post-structuralism................... 4 5 What is Post-structuralism?.......................................................5 0 Post-structuralist Orientations.............................................................. ,5 5 Subjectivity............................................................. ............................ 5 5 Identity and Self..................................................................................... 5 7 Totalization and Structure...........................................................5 9 Prominent Post-structuralists......................................................................... 6 2 Michel Foucault: Discourse and the Power/Knowledge Relation 6 2 Jacques Derrida: Text, Differance and Deconstruction.................................6 8 Gilles Deleuze: Difference and Sense.................................................................7 2 Jean-Fran9ois Lyotard: Differend, Metanarrative and the Post­ modern.......................................................................................... 7 8 Michel Serres: Science, Literature and Philosophy................ .............8 0 Post-structuralism and Controversy....................................................8 4 Remarks................................................................................................................8 6 CHAPTER THREE: POST-STRUCTURALISM IN CURRICULUM STUDIES: BEGINNINGS ....................................................................................................8 9 Contemporary Curriculum Discourse...................................................8 9 Post-structuralism and Curriculum...................................................... 9 2 Knowledge and Curriculum.......................................................... 9 6 Curriculum Praxis................................................................................... 9 9 Reading and Curriculum........................................ .................................... 1 0 0 Problematics........................................................................................ 103 Deconstructive Pedagogy...........................................................................105 Selected Contemporary Curriculum Theorists.................................1 0 9 Peter Taubman: De-gendered Curriculum and Student/Teacher R elation...................................................................................... 1 09 Cleo Cherryholmes: Post-structural Investigation ..........................................111 Philip Wexler: After the New Sociology of Education........................ 113 Rebecca Martusewicz: Post-modern Feminist Critique......................................1 1 6 William Doll: A Post-Modern Perspective .............................................1 1 9 William Pinar: Autobiography and the Architecture of Self...........121 Ted Aoki: Sound of Pedagogical Calling...........................................123 After-thoughts...................................................................................................... 1 2 4 CHAPTER FOUR: THE WORK OF JACQUES DAIGNAULT................................................................ 12 6 Post-structuralism Encountered............................................................ 1 2 6 Daignault's Staging-Thinking...........................................................................1 28 Post-structuralism "as"