Literature 400
Introduction to Literary Theory
Full course for one semester. This course is a historical and
analytical introduction to the major theoretical movements of the
last 50 years in Western European and American literary criticism.
The course will trace the philosophical origins and conceptual
affiliations of the major theoretical developments, as well as the
methodological paradigms of the critical movements that draw on
them. As part of this overview we will unpack the central concepts
or master tropes of the different theoretical movements in order to
provide the student with a basic understanding of how to wield them
effectively in literary critical discourse. Movements covered will
include structuralism and semiotics, poststructuralism and
deconstruction, Lacanian psychoanalytic theory, poststructuralist
Marxist theory, Foucauldian theory and the New Historicism, and
cultural studies. The course will be taught as a seminar, with each
student responsible for organizing the discussion of a reading or
topic. It is designed for literature majors, but non-literature
majors with adequate preparation may be admitted at the discretion
of the instructor. Prerequisite: junior standing and at least one
literature course, or consent of the instructor; for students
taking this course for German literature credit, German 220 or one
300-level German course. Cross-listed as English 400 and German
400. Conference.
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