Literary Theories

English 380, Fall 2011

Course Description and Goals

Literary Theories is divided into two parts. In the first part, designed to familiarize you with some of the main currents of contemporary literary theory, we will read primary and secondary materials explaining or exemplifying various theoretical approaches such as psychoanalysis, reader response, feminism, new historicism and post-structuralism. In the second part, we will read a variety of texts from these schools and their antecedents that offer differing answers to questions explicitly or implicitly important in literary study, such as "what literature should we read?" and "what is the purpose of literature?"

The goals of this course are to develop your ability to recognize and understand common theoretical arguments, engage you in some of the crucial debates in literary studies today, help you to define your own position as a critic, and develop in you the critical thinking skills necessary for working with theoretical texts (such as summarizing accurately, analyzing assumptions and implications, making connections between disparate texts, and evaluating claims).

Required Texts

The following texts are required:

• David Richter, The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends (Third Edition)
• James Joyce, The Dead (Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism series, ed. Daniel R. Schwarz)
• Peter Barry, Beginning Theory (Second or Third Edition)

Your grade will be based on the following:

• a mid-term exam (15%)
• a 4-6 page paper and preparatory work (15%)
• participation in the Theories Forum (25%)
• a 10-15 page paper and preparatory work (25%)
• a final exam (20%)

Attendance is mandatory. I will evaluate attendance on a case by case basis, but in general you should expect that more than four absences for any reason, including illness and university-sponsored activities, will lower your final grade.

Late papers: your grade on a paper will be penalized by 3 points (e.g. 92 to 89) for every calendar day that any part of it (e.g. draft, topic, or bibliography) is late, up to a maximum of 20 points (e.g. 95 to 75). I rarely grant extensions on papers, but you're welcome to ask. Because a low grade--say, an F at 50 points--is much less destructive to a grade than a 0 is, it is nearly always worthwhile to make up late work.

Participation in discussion is important in this class. Although there will be no separate grade rubric for participation, active and thoughtful participation in class will raise a borderline grade, while passive or disruptive participation will lower one. (A borderline grade is defined as a grade within .5 of a point of the cutoff between two grades. For example, 90 is the cutoff between B+ and A-; 89.5 - 90.5 is the borderline range between the two grades.)

Plagiarism will affect your grade in one of two ways. If you turn in a paper which is plagiarized in minor or unintentional ways (e.g. you use the language of a source you are writing about without quotes, but in only a brief passage and clearly without any intention to represent someone else's work as your own), the paper will receive a 0, and we will discuss plagiarism until it is clear that you understand what it is and how to avoid it. You may be able to rewrite such a paper for a higher grade if there is enough time left in the term. However, if you turn in a paper which, in my judgment, plagiarizes blatantly, either at length or with apparent intent to deceive, you will receive an F in the course, regardless of any other grades you have received, and I will file an Academic Dishonesty Report with the Associate Provost.

Part I. Overview of Theoretical Approaches

M 8/22 Introduction.
W 8/24 Where are you now? Reading: Joyce, "The Dead" (Joyce 21-59); Schwarz, "Biographical and Historical Contexts" (Joyce 3-15).
F 8/26 Liberal humanism, or formalism, or New Criticism, or... Reading: Barry, "Theory Before Theory--Liberal Humanism" (Barry 11-37); Richter, "Formalisms" (Richter 749-760, with special attention to the section on New Criticism); Schwarz, "A Critical History," especially parts I-III (Joyce 63-71).

M 8/29 An example of New Critical theory. Reading: C. Brooks, "My Credo: Formalist Criticism" and "Irony as a Principle of Structure" (Richter 798-806). Optional: Crane, from The Critical Monism of Cleanth Brooks (Richter 807-810).
W 8/31 Psychological Theory. Readings: Murfin, "What is Psychological Criticism?" (Joyce 85-96); Schwarz, "Gabriel Conroy's Psyche: Character as Concept in Joyce's The Dead" (Joyce 102-124); Barry, "Psychoanalytic Criticism" (Barry 92-115); Richter,"Psychoanalytic Theory and Criicism" (Richter 1106-1119).
F 9/2 An example of psychoanalytic literary theory. Reading: Brooks, "Freud's Masterplot" (Richter 1161-1171).

M 9/5 Reader Response Theory. Readings: Murfin, "What is Reader Response Criticism?" (Joyce 125-133); Rabinowitz, "'A Symbol of Something': Interpretive Vertigo in 'The Dead'" (Joyce 137-149); Richter, "Reader-Response Theory" (Richter 962-978).
W 9/7 An example of reader-response theory. Reading: Fish, "How to Recognize a Poem When You See One" (Richter 1023-1030). Optional: Phelan's response to Fish's argument, Richter 1031-1034.
F 9/ 9 Marxist Criticism. Readings: Barry, "Marxist Criticism" (Barry 150-165); Richter, "Marxist Criticism" (Richter 1198-1214); Marx, "Consiousness Derived from Material Conditions" and "On Greek Art in its Time" (Richter 406-411)

M 9/12 An example of Marxist theory. Reading: Lukacs, "The Ideology of Modernism" (Richter 1217-1231).
W 9/14 New Historicism. Readings: Murfin, "What is the New Historicism?" (Joyce 150-158); Levenson, "Living History in 'The Dead'" (Joyce 163-177); Richter, from "New Historicism and Cultural Studies" (Richter 1320-1326); Barry, "New Historicism and Cultural Materialism" (Barry 166-184). Summary and Description for Paper 1 Due by Email
F 9/ 16 An example of New Historicist theory. Reading: Said, From the Introduction to Orientalism (Richter 1801-1804).

M 9/19 Feminist Criticism. Readings: Murfin, "What is Feminist Criticism?" (Joyce 178-185); Norris, "Not the Girl She Was at All: Women in 'The Dead'" (Joyce 190-204); Barry, "Feminist Criticism" (Barry 116-133); Richter, "Feminist Criticism" (Richter 1502-1516).
W 9/21 An example of feminist theory. Reading: Kolodny, "Dancing Through the Minefield: Some Observations on the Theory, Practice and Politics of a Feminist Literary Criticism" (Richter 1550-1562).
F 9/ 23 Post-structuralism and Deconstruction. Readings: Murfin, "What is Deconstruction?" (Joyce 206-215); Riquelme, "For Whom the Snow Taps: Style and Repetition in 'The Dead'" (Joyce 219-233); Barry, "Post-Structuralism and Deconstuction" (Barry 59-77); Richter, "Structuralism and Deconstruction" (Richter 819-837). Paper 1 Due

M 9/26 An example of post-structuralist theory. Reading: Derrida, "Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences" (Richter 915-926).
W 9/28 catch-up day.
F 9/30 Midterm Exam

Part II: Fundamental Questions

M 10/3 Reading: Plato, Book X of The Republic (Richter 30-38); Richter, "Mapping Critical Theories: The Traditional Classification" (Richter 2-4).
W 10/5 Reading: Freud, "Creative Writers and Daydreaming" (Richter 509-514)
F 10/7 Reading: Lukács, "The Ideology of Modernism" (Richter 1218-1232)

M 10/10 Reading: Zunshine, "Theory of Mind and Experimental Representations of Fictional Consciousness" (1089-1105)
W 10/12 wrap-up of the first question: what is literature for?
F 10/14 Fall Break

M 10/17 M 3/1 catch-up day or on to the second question.

Second Question: what is a valid interpretation?

W 10/19 Reading: Wimsatt and Beardsley, "The Intentional Fallacy" (Richter 811-818). Proposed Topic for Long Paper Due
F 10/21 Reading: Hirsch, "Objective Interpretation" (on reserve).

M 10/24 Reading: Beauvoir, "Myths: Of Women in Five Authors" (Richter 635-641)
W 10/26 Reading: Barthes, "From Work to Text" (Richter 878-882).
F 10/28 Reading: Holland, "The Question: Who Reads What How?" (Richter 1015-1022)

M 10/31 wrap-up of the second question: what is a valid interpretation? Bibliography and Survey of Sources for Long Paper Due
W 11/2 catch-up day or on to the third question.

Third question: what should we read?

F 11/4 Reading: Arnold, "The Function of Criticism at the Present Time" (Richter 415-429), "The Study of Poetry" (Richter 429-434)

M 11/7 Reading: Leavis, from The Great Tradition (Richter 650-658)
W 11/9 Reading: skim to refresh your memory: Kolodny, "Dancing Through the Minefield" (Richter 1550-1562); read all: Smith, "Toward a Black Feminist Criticism" (Richter 1600-1610)
F 11/11 Reading: Eco, "The Myth of Superman" (Richter 950-961).

M 11/14 Meet in class to sign up for conferences after break. First Draft of Long Paper Due
W 11/16 no class; conferences on drafts of the long paper throughout this week.
F 11/18 no class; conferences.

M 11/21 Reading: Guillory, from Cultural Capital: "The Problem of Literary Canon Formation" (Richter 1471-1484)
W 11/23 - F 11/25 Thanksgiving Recess

M 11/28 Reading: Smith, "Contingencies of Value" (handout)
W 11/30 wrap-up of third question: what should we read? Final Draft of Long Paper Due
F 12/2 last day of class.

F 12/9, 8-10 AM Final Exam