English 382: Literary Theory

Spring, 2009

Instructor: Dennis Allen

Office: 110 Colson

Office Hours: T: 4:00-5:15 TH: 4:00-5:30 and by appointment

Phone: Office: 293-9702

Home: 292-0081

Course Purpose: This course is intended to provide you with an overview of the schools of literary theory that are currently used to analyze literary and cultural texts, ranging from post-structuralism to Gender Theory and Cultural Studies.

Course Requirements: Course grades will be based on a midterm (35%), a final exam (35%), and three two page response papers (30%).

The Response Papers: Should consist of a two page typed analysis of an essay from the course reading assignments. These should not summarize the reading but should engage it intellectually. In other words, a response to a particular essay should do one or more of the following: critique the essay, apply it to a literary or cultural text, or relate it to previous reading in the course. Also, if an essay proves exceptionally difficult, your response paper on that essay could present some focused, specific questions on points that you did not understand.

Attendance: You are allowed three absences. If you miss class a fourth time, you will fail the course.

Text: Rivkin, Julie and Michael Ryan, eds. Literary Theory: An Anthology, Second Edition (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004)

Assignments:

Tues., January 13: Course Introduction
Thursday, Jan. 15: Introductory Lecture: Structuralism and Semiotics

Poststructuralism and Deconstruction:

Tues., Jan. 20: Introductory Lecture
Thurs., Jan. 22: Jacques Derrida, "Semiology and Grammatology," pp. 332-339

Tues., Jan. 27: Jean Baudrillard, "Simulacra and Simulations," pp. 365-377
Response 1 Due
Thurs., Jan 29: Application Day

Psychoanalysis:

Tues., Feb. 3: Jacques Lacan, "The Instance of the Letter..." pp. 447-454
Thurs., Feb. 5: Lacan, "The Instance of the Letter..." pp. 454-461

Tues., Feb. 10: Luce Irigaray, "Women on the Market," pp. 799-811
Response 2 Due
Thurs., Feb. 12: Application Day

Marxism:

Tues., Feb. 17: Karl Marx, "Wage Labor and Capital," and "Capital," pp. 659-672
Thurs., Feb. 19: Day Off

Tues., Feb. 24: Alan Sinfield, "Cultural Materialism," pp. 743-750
Thurs., Feb. 26: Alan Sinfield, "Cultural Materialism," pp. 750-762

New Historicism:

Tues., March 3: Stephen Greenblatt, "Shakespeare and the Exorcists," pp. 592-605
Thurs., March 5: Greenblatt, pp. 605-620

Tues., March 10: Application Day
Thurs., March 12: Midterm

Spring Break

Feminism, Gender Studies, and Queer Theory:

Tues., March 24: Judith Butler, "Performative Acts," pp. 900-911
Thurs., March 26: Day Off

Tues., March 31: Michel Foucault, "The History of Sexuality," pp. 892-899
Thurs. April 2: Application Day

Ethnic Studies/Postcolonial Theory:

Tues., April 7: Toni Morrison, "Playing in the Dark," pp. 1005-1016
Thurs. April 9: Anne McClintock, "The Angel of Progress," pp. 1185-1196
Response 3 Due

Tues., April 14: Alan Lawson, "The Anxious Proximities..." pp. 1210-1223
Thurs., April 16: Application Day

Cultural Studies:

Tues., April 21: Walter Benjamin, "The Work of Art...," pp. 1235-1241
Thurs., April 23: Michel de Certeau, "The Practice of Everyday Life," pp. 1247-1257

Tues., April 28: Review Day
Thurs., April 30: Final