ENGL 224 - Introduction to Literary Theory

Literary theory is a set of approaches to interpreting not just literary works but texts of any kind: films, video games, speeches, buildings. This course will tour major schools of thought from Plato to the twenty-first century, such as formalism, structuralism, mimetic theory, deconstruction, psychoanalytic criticism, gender and sexuality studies, postcolonial criticism, race studies, ecocriticism, and disability theory. It will feature selected primary texts from theorists such as Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, René Girard, Adrienne Rich, Judith Butler, Edward Said, Chinua Achebe, Toni Morrison, and Wendell Berry. Class discussion and writing assignments will focus on using theoretical lenses to interpret texts of your choice. The course will be conducted as a seminar with several short papers and two longer ones.

Credits: 3
Terms Offered: Fall, Spring
Attributes: Arts and Humanities II (AH2), Philosophical Perspectives (PHL)
Prerequisites: ENGL 113