Postgraduate Course: Critical Theory: Issues and Debates (ENLI11101)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will introduce students to a range of contemporary theoretical debates within literary studies. For those who have little prior experience of literary theory, it offers a groundwork for future exploration; for those already well-versed in the discussion of theory, it will offer the opportunity to broaden and deepen your understanding, to reflect on the place of theory within your own critical practice, and to pursue new directions in your studies. It will provide a detailed overview of critical and literary theory as it has developed since the early twentieth century, but will also seek to situate those developments within the larger history of criticism, and specifically in relation to intellectual and cultural changes since the late eighteenth century. Particular consideration will be given to the intersection and overlap between literary studies and other areas of the humanities and social sciences such as historiography, philosophy, and social theory. The course will also consider questions such as what constitutes 'research' in critical theory, how to read carefully and respond thoughtfully to work which can often be dense and forbidding, and how to relate your understanding of theory to the sensitive reading of literary texts.
Theorists whose work will be discussed include: Theodor Adorno, Louis Althusser, Roland Barthes, Walter Benjamin, Pierre Bourdieu, Judith Butler, Helene Cixous, Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Hans Jauss, Jacques Lacan, Jacques Ranciere, Barbara Herrnstein Smith. |
| Course description |
Part 1: Literary theories: artwork, criticism, culture.
1/. What is critical theory?
2/. Formalism and new criticism.
3/. Marxism, modernity and critical theory.
4/. Hermeneutics and interpretation
Part 2: The challenge of Theory: text, language, subjectivity.
5/. Structuralism.
6/. Ideology and power.
7/. Psychoanalysis and the subject.
8/. Deconstruction.
Part 3: After Theory?: cosmopolitanism, environment, affect.
9/. New Humanisms.
10/. New Materialisms.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2015/16, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 30 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
The course will be assessed via the submission of two written assignments: a short mid semester essay (1500 words) and the completion of a final course essay (2500 words). The assessments will be weighted at 30% and 70% respectively. Submission dates will be week 6 and then the standard school submission date for option courses (i.e. week 12) (TBC before start of course). |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
| This course will introduce students to a range of contemporary theoretical debates within literary studies. For those who have little prior experience of literary theory, it offers a groundwork for future exploration; for those already well-versed in the discussion of theory, it will offer the opportunity to broaden and deepen your understanding, to reflect on the place of theory within your own critical practice, and to pursue new directions in your studies. It will provide a detailed overview of critical and literary theory as it has developed since the early twentieth century, but will also seek to situate those developments within the larger history of criticism, and specifically in relation to intellectual and cultural changes since the late eighteenth century. Particular consideration will be given to the intersection and overlap between literary studies and other areas of the humanities and social sciences such as historiography, philosophy, and social theory. The course will also consider questions such as what constitutes ¿research¿ in critical theory, how to read carefully and respond thoughtfully to work which can often be dense and forbidding, and how to relate your understanding of theory to the sensitive reading of literary texts.
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Reading List
Primary reading:
Most texts for discussion will be drawn from the Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Other primary reading will consist of journal articles available through the University library's electronic resources.
Preliminary Secondary reading
Where you begin with secondary reading will depend on your prior experience. If you are just getting started with literary or critical theory, then I recommend:
Jonathan Culler, Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Those of you who have already studied theory, may be interested in more recent assessments of the situation of critical theory and might consider looking at:
Terry Eagleton, After Theory, London: Penguin, 2003.
Jane Elliott and Derek Attridge, Theory after 'Theory', London: Routledge, 2011.
Jean-Michel Rabaté, The Future of Theory, Oxford: Blackwell, 2002.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | CTIaD |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Alex Thomson
Tel: (0131 6)50 3058
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Kara Mccormack
Tel: (0131 6)50 3030
Email: |
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