Major Topics in Contemporary Literary Theory and Criticism

This course seeks to introduce students to some of the most important schools of literary theory and criticism in the 20th Century that have had significant impact on the study of literature. In each unit, we will explore the philosophical framework informing the school in question as well as its central tenets and main interpretative strategies. We will look for each school ‘s definition of the nature of the relationship between text and reality, the nature of the relationship between the text and its author (the question of authorship); and the nature of the relationship linking literary theories to each other. Each unit explains the basic principles of the theory it addresses, including the basic principles of literary application, to enable students write their own theoretical interpretations of literature and read with insight what the theorists themselves have written. There will be an underscoring of the modern and contemporary periods as the melting pot of theories. The interaction of literature with philosophy, psychology, sociology, linguistics, politics, history, ecology, gender, and the way literary theories are enriched by inter-disciplinary thrust will be dealt with. Formalism, Practical/New Criticism, Reader-Response, Structuralism, Semiotics, New Historicism, Marxism, Psychoanalysis, Poststructuralism, Deconstruction, Feminism, Postcolonialism, and Ecocriticism are the major literary theories that are covered. The philosophical postulations, theoretical conceptions, and methods of criticism and analysis suggested by each theory will be studied thoroughly. Students are expected to devote themselves to the study of most if not all of these theories so that they can develop a multifaceted capability to evaluate works of literature and other related cultural products from different perspectives. Each student is expected to write and present a thorough review and application to analysis of at least one theory through a term paper.