Literary Theory and Methodology (5cr)

Objectives

In this course, students acquire an in-depth understanding of different theoretical approaches to literature and others forms of cultural production. They learn to read theory in a structured way and critically debate challenging theoretical concepts orally and in writing. They develop their abilities to read literary and other texts through different theoretical perspectives. Students will be assessed on the basis of an essay as well as additional shorter assignments.

Content

This seminar provides students with the theoretical training that is needed for conducting research on the M.A. level. In the course, we will discuss a selection of influential texts from different ‘schools’ of literary criticism and cultural theory, ranging from the beginnings of theory in the early twentieth century to classics of (post-)structuralist, Marxist and feminist theory and, in the last part of the course, recent developments in ecocriticism, spatial theory and indigenous epistemologies. We will engage with the theoretical concepts, frameworks and critical tropes these texts work with and trace the ways in which they develop and present their arguments. We will also create a dialogue between theory and selected primary texts and practice different strategies for reading both literary and theoretical texts.