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Required
Texts:
Eagleton, Literary Theory: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
Lodge & Woods, eds. Modern Criticism and Theory, 2nd ed.
James, The Turn of the Screw, Bedford Case Studies in Contemporary
Criticism
Strongly
Recommended:
Gibaldi, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 5th,
or later, ed.
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Why this
course?: In the last half-century, the study of literature has come
to focus less and less on issues of appreciation, preservation and interpretation
of certain valued texts. Instead, literary study has come to be more focused
on the interrogation of cultural, political and epochal assumptions underlying
the interpretation, preservation and appreciation of texts. Ideas
of what constitutes a text worth study have also changed significantly.
It goes without saying that the academic subject "English" has transformed
itself into something our grandparents probably would not recognize. Like
the subject of its study, English is protean, mutable. No one who hopes
to pursue graduate (or even undergraduate) study in English today can
succeed without some familiarity with theory and its practice, or without
understanding one's own position vis-a-vis on-going debates about the
philosophy, politics and practice of literary criticism, the nature of
texts, and the relations of power between readers, writers, institutions
and language. Ignoring theory's implications for the practice of literary
studies, misunderstanding what it attempts to do, or wishing we could
return to some purer, unmediated relation to the work of literary art
brands one as, at best, naive, at worst, invincibly ignorant.
What
is Theory?: According to Jonathan Culler, theory,
in literature, no longer refers, as of old, to "the systematic account
of the nature of literature and of the methods for analyzing it." Rather,
theory is
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"interdisciplinary
-- discourse
with effects outside an original discipline.
-
"analytical
and speculative -- an attempt to work out what is involved in what we
call . . . language or writing or meaning or the subject.
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"a critique
of common sense, of concepts taken as natural.
- "reflexive,
thinking about thinking, enquiry into the categories we use in making
sense of things, in literature and in other discursive practices."
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Goals:
At the end of this course you should be able to recognize and evaluate
the theoretical underpinnings of a critical text, have a strong sense
of the development and application of various critical theories emerging
during the past century, and have developed a commitment to the informed
practice of one or more theoretical approaches to literature.
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Work: All
reading and writing must be completed on the date indicated. While I will
gladly accept early submissions of written work, I will not accept late
ones. It is pointless to stay enrolled in the class if you do not intend
to do the reading on time.
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Reading:
This is a reading-intensive course. Literary theory is often dense
and seldom pleasurable to read -- at least at first. Since it draws widely
from such non-literary fields as economics, politics, philosophy,
linguistics, psychology, etc., it may often assume some base knowledge
of terminology in those fields and/or of the history of discourse
in those fields. You may find yourself having to do supplemental reading
to aid comprehension. (If you are in the habit of forming study groups,
this is a good reason to start one up!) Since theory is a worldwide,
interdisciplinary practice, textual referents within essays and the
rhetorical styles of the essays may seem foreign to you. For this
course we are going to have to ramp up rapidly, so the weekly readings
will be plentiful at first, slowing down a bit, but not much, by mid-term.
Budget your time! You will be more likely to read with comprehension
if you read a little every day, and digest it, than
if you try to cram a week's worth into Monday night or Tuesday morning.
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Exams:
The first short exam (multiple choice, lists, true/false, fill-in-the-blank,
identification) will expect you to be able to crudely identify the
development, tenets, major projects, and peculiar liabilities of the
schools of theory as discussed by Eagleton and in course lectures,
and as realized in the sample essays on The Turn of the
Screw (15%). The take-home final will ask you to identify the
theoretical perspective(s) of an unidentified short piece (or pieces)
of writing and briefly state upon what elements in the writing you
are basing your identification. (15%).
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4th-Hour
Project: Post and respond weekly to an email discussion group.
I consider an adequate post to be one which fills about 2/3 of the
screen and actually deals with the week's assignment. This is your
chance to shape discussion, work out your own ideas, critique or elucidate
the readings, ask for help, or test a theory of your own. Often these
email discussions are more lively than class discussion because you
can comment at your leisure and when you feel most inspired to post.
To keep discussion useful, please treat your posts as part of a conversation,
don't just list questions or make pronouncements. Don't worry about
being profound or seeming dumb. Listen to what others are saying.
Don't shy away from argument, or even hot contention, but don't forget
your manners either. Eight postings, spread over the ten-week term,
are required for an A for this portion of the work. Six for a B and
five for a C. Fewer than five, no credit. Add the number 702 to
your subject heading, so we'll know it's not just plain old email
(10%).
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Writing:
Short essay/critique (500-750 words) asks you to look critically
at a student paper you have written some time in the past. What are
its failings (or successes) from a theoretical point of view? What
"natural" assumptions do you make that you would need to rethink now?
In light of what you have learned, what would you do to make it less
naïve? (5%) Seminar paper (3500-4300 words) asks you to explore
current developments in the theoretical school of your choice and
forecast future applications or development of that approach in the
field of literary studies of your choice. Since you will have to draw
heavily on recent journal articles to write your survey, you should
begin this paper by midterm. A 250 word abstract with list of recommended
readings is due at the same time as the paper. Please provide enough
copies of this abstract for all of us (55%). Note that an ungraded
proposal and working bibliography for the seminar paper are listed
as due during the term. If you do not turn these in as required, you
will not receive full credit for the seminar paper.
Note
on Evaluation of Writing Component: I realize that most, if not all,
of you come into this course as theory novices. Accordingly, I will be
reading the content of both essays with an eye toward your development
over the term, rather than against some abstract notion
of theoretical expertise. HOWEVER, since you are seeking degrees as Masters
of English, I expect that your writing will already exhibit mastery
of the English language, MLA format, and graduate-level standards of composition.
I expect that you will do all revision before submitting your work.
Plusses,
Minuses, Split Grades, Etc.: All final grades will be figured on a
4 point scale, in which A=4, B=3, etc. All percentage grades (e.g. on
tests) will be accompanied by a letter grade. Occasionally in marking
your work, I will offer a plus or a minus in addition to a letter grade.
Plusses and minuses have no numerical value, but are merely offered in
the nature of encouragement or warning, from me to you, and should be
interpreted by you as such. Even more rarely, a piece of written work
may receive a split grade. These will be calculated as the average of
the two letters. Example A/C = 3; B/C = 2.5.
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Calendar
(All writing
assignments/tests in bold face)
March
26 Introduction and expectations. Lecture/discussion: "The
Rise of English"; Literary Criticism vs. Literary Theory
April
2 Readings for discussion and lecture (from Bedford Case
Study The Turn of the Screw):
- James,
The Turn of the Screw
- Introduction:
Biographical and Historical Contexts (pp. 3-19)
- From
the Preface to Henry James's 1908 Edition of The Turn of
the Screw (pp. 117-24)
- A
Critical History of The Turn of the Screw (pp. 127-151)
April
9 Readings for discussion and lecture (From Eagleton and
Bedford Case Study):
- Eagleton,
Chapters 2, 3, 4
- Booth,
"'He began to read to our hushed little circle': Are We Blessed
or Cursed by Our Life with The Turn of the Screw?";
plus material on Reader Response Criticism (pp. 152-78)
- Felman,
"'The grasp with which I recovered him': A Child is Killed
in The Turn of the Screw"; plus material on Deconstruction
(pp. 179-206)
April
16 Readings for discussion and lecture (From Eagleton and
Bedford Case Study):
- Eagleton,
Chapter 5
- Eagleton,
Conclusion: Political Criticism
- Eagleton,
Afterword
- Renner,
"'Red hair, very red, close-curling': Sexual Hysteria, Physiognomical
Bogeymen and the 'Ghosts' in The Turn of the Screw";
plus material on Psychoanalytic Criticism (pp. 207-41)
- Walton,
"'What then on earth was I?': Feminine Subjectivity and The
Turn of the Screw"; plus material on Feminist Criticism
(pp. 242-67)
- Robbins,
"'They don't much count, do they?': The Unfinished History
of The Turn of the Screw"; plus material on Marxist
Criticism (pp. 268-96)
April
23 First hour: Exam 1.
Readings
for discussion and lecture (from Lodge & Wood):
- Saussure,
"The Object of Study"
- Benjamin,
"The Storyteller"
- Jakobson,
"The Metaphoric and Metonymic Poles"
- Lacan,
"The Insistence of the Letter in the Unconscious"
- Proposal
for seminar paper due.
April
30 Readings for discussion and lecture (from Lodge &
Wood):
- Derrida,
"Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences"
- Bakhtin,
"From the Prehistory of Novelistic Discourse"
- Todorov,
"The Typology of Detective Fiction"
- Barthes,
"The Death of the Author"
May
7 Readings for discussion and lecture (from Lodge &
Wood):
- Foucault,
"What Is an Author?"
- Iser,
"The Reading Process: A Phenomenological Approach"
- Abrams,
"The Deconstructive Angel"
- Fish,
"Interpreting the Variorum"
- Short
essay due -- Critique of old student paper.
May
14 Readings for discussion and lecture (from Lodge &
Wood):
- Cixous,
"Sorties"
- Showalter,
"Feminist Criticism in the Wilderness"
- de
Man, "The Resistance to Theory"
- Irigaray,
"The Bodily Encounter with the Mother"
May
21 Readings for discussion and lecture (from Lodge &
Wood):
- Hartman,
"The Interpreter's Freud"
- Mitchell,
"Femininity, Narrative and Psychoanalysis"
- Eco,
"Casablanca: Cult Movies and Intertextual Collage"
- Greenblatt,
"The Circulation of Social Energy"
- McGann,
"The Textual Condition"
- Working
bibliography for seminar paper due.
May
28 Readings for discussion and lecture (from Lodge &
Wood):
- Schweikart,
"Reading Ourselves: Toward a Feminist Theory of Reading"
- Sedgwick,
"The Beast in the Closet"
- Spivak,
"Feminism and Critical Theory"
- Said,
"Crisis [in Orientalism]"
- Take-home
exam handed out. Take-home exam due in my mailbox (126 Allyn)
by 5 pm, Friday, May 31.
June
4 Round-table discussion: prospects for further study.
- Seminar
papers due, abstracts of seminar papers (enough to go around)
due.
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