This course covers aspects of the history of literary and critical theory from antiquity to the present, focusing mainly on trends and debates in twentieth and twenty-first century theory and covering topics such as ideas of authorship and literary value, formalism, poetics, structuralism and post-structuralism, psychoanalysis and the subject, ideology and discourse, gender, sexuality and performance, post-modernism, ecology, culture, race, nation, postcolonialism and post-humanism.

1 x 1hr lecture per week over ten weeks and 7 x 90 min seminars over 10 weeks as scheduled on MyCampus

ENGLIT4011 Literary Theory

None

The standard assessments for this course are: 

■ Encyclopaedia entry (1000 words): 30% 

■ Essay (3000 words): 50%  

■ Seminar presentation (7 minutes): 20% 

If required, for instance where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, the following alternatives are available: 

■ There are no alternatives to the Encyclopaedia entry (1000 words), but flexible deadline can be offered as reasonable adjustment (Students should follow the usual process for extensions). 

■ There are no alternatives to the Essay (3000 words), but flexible deadlines can be offered as reasonable adjustment (Students should follow the usual process for extensions). 

■ Recorded presentation or One-to-one presentation / discussion/Q&A with staff (where presentation would normally be in class) as alternative to presentation.

Further reasonable adjustments may be provided where necessary. Students are encouraged to consult with the course convenor.  

This course aims to:

■ increase students' literary-theoretical knowledge and awareness of literary, critical and social theory; 

■ develop awareness of the history and context of modern literary theory and its philosophical-aesthetic origins;

■ facilitate understanding of aspects of the general context within which works of literary theory have been produced, popularised and expanded upon;

■ develop comprehension of key theoretical positions and arguments;

■ enable students to use this knowledge to construct and develop individually selected areas of specialised enquiry.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ understand and articulate concepts from, and distinctions between, a range of theoretical positions;

■ critically reflect on theoretical arguments;

■ communicate responses to the material studied on the course both orally and in written form through coherent and sustained argument;

■  demonstrate resilience and time management through effectively planning, undertaking and submitting coursework; 

■ deal with change and new challenges by applying their disciplinary skills and knowledge to previously unfamiliar research areas and questions.