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Literary Criticism

معرفی رویکردها و منتقدان سرشناس جهان در ادبیات انگلیسی

Literary criticism: Course Syllabus

 

Department of English Language and Literature

Faculty of Letters and Humanities

Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz

 

Instructor: Sayyed Rahim Moosavinia

Professor in English Language and Literature

moosavinia@scu.ac.ir & moosavinia@yahoo.com

 

Textbooks and References

Hazard Adams, Critical Theory since Plato. Ed. 1994.

Charles E. Bressler, Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. Third edition, 2002 (1994).

Peter Barry, Beginning Theory, 1995.

Rene Wellek and Austin Warren, Theory of Literature, 1942.

Hans Bertens, Literary Theory (The Basics Series), 2005.

Steven Lynn, Texts and Contexts, 1994.

J. A. Cuddon, Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory, 1976.

Jeremy Hawthorn, A Glossary of Contemporary Literary Theory, 2000.

Terry Eagleton, Literary Theory: An Introduction, 1983.

Jonathan Culler, Structuralist Poetics, 1975.

Hans Robert Jauss, Toward an Aesthetic of Reception, 1982.

Roland Barthes, Writing Degree Zero and Elements of Semiology, 1953.

 

Approach

Typical critics will be treated for class discussion. The student, however, will get involved in reading a number of other texts to acquire a more comprehensive view of literary criticism and literary theory. Emphasis will be laid on the poetics and the possible limitations of each theory.

 

Schedule

Week 1

A general introduction

Literary Criticism and Literary Theory

Critical Theory since Plato (Ed. Hazard Adams)

 

Week 3

Ferdinand de Saussure's "Object of the Study"

 

Week 2

Mikhail Bakhtin's "Discourse in the Novel"

 

Week 4

Jacques Derrida's "Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences"

 

Week 5

Review of Abstracts for Essays

 

Week 6

Roland Barthes's "Death of the Author"

 

Week 7

Michael Foucault's "What is an Author?"

 

Week 8

Michael Foucault's "Truth and Power" or “What is an Author?”

 

Week 9

Elaine Showalter's "Towards a Feminist Poetics"

 

Week 10

Edward W. Said's "Introduction to Orientalism"

 

Week 11

Jean-Francois Lyotard's "Introduction to the Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge"

 

Week 12

M.H. Abrams's "Orientation of Critical Theory"

 

Assignments: An Essay (of about 1200 words) & A Presentation