Twentieth Century Literary Theory from Modernism to Postmodernism

With the goal of familiarizing yourself with some of the ideas that helped shape the century's literary landscape, in this course you will read and discuss key representative works of 20th century literary theory. Each primary text will try to test your perceived notions of what it is to read and to interpret. As you will discover, literary theories usually stem from concepts and paradigms normally foreign to literature studies, and, as a consequence, the study of literature theory will whisk you away on a rollercoaster ride through the halls of academia. This class will be no exception. From a literature perspective, students can expect to encounter texts dealing with sociology, linguistics, cultural anthropology, media, philosophy, political science, history, and other fields. In the course of this introductory seminar, you should acquire basic literary-based cultural knowledge of -Western Civilization," since the majority of the essays and excerpts we will be reading originate from -Western" countries. This course, will, however, in the end venture off away from the West to the lands of -otherness- in the form of Postcolonial Studies. Of most importance in this course is that you learn how and why certain theories develop in reaction and in relation to others, which is why we will be chronicling these changes within their respective historical periods.

An electronic reader will be provided via Moodle. You will be required to have the text for each session in class. Anglistik - Sprachpraxis 5 KP = In-class assignments + final exam 7 KP = In-class assignments + standard research paper Universität Siegen WiSe 2011/12 M.A. Hulse Seth Thomas M.A