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This course is designed as a critical survey of
modern literary theory from the middle of the
twentieth century to today. It includes both
primary and secondary readings on New Criticism,
Structuralism and Semiotics, Post-Structuralism,
Psychoanalysis, Marxist and Cultural Criticism,
Feminism, and Post-Colonialism. Discussion will
include applications of these approaches to literary
texts as well as the evaluation of their
methodological assumptions, consistency, and
fruitfulness. Students will also be asked to read a
few literary texts, using them as test cases to
compare and evaluate different approaches in
concrete terms. The aim of this course is not only
to enhance the students' ability to read critically
and to think theoretically, but also to provide an
understanding of the importance of contemporary
literary theory for the analysis of culture in general
and the influence of literary theories on fields such
as anthropology, cultural studies, history,
psychology, and even law.
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