Brief description

Learning outcomes

• articulate and understand the historical and philosophical context of the development of literary theory
• describe the impact of key 'movements' in twentieth -century literary theory (Structuralism, Post-structuralism, Psychoanalysis) on the practice of literary criticism
• explain relevant critical arguments developed around these key 'movements'
• assess the relevance or usefulness of such theoretical work for producing their own literary criticism

Those students who wish to go on with their studies should be able to demonstrate that they have a solid foundation for postgraduate research

The learning outcomes above will be explicitly tested by the independent research, undertaken on the student' own personal initiative, and production of the essay. Both forms of assessment specifically consolidate developments and debates covered in the course. The 3-hour examination will be designed to test further the students' acquisition of the outcomes described.

Further Notes

week 1: Approaches to texts: an introduction
week 2: From 'l'homme et l'oeuvre' to textuality
week 3: 'L'homme et l'oeuvre': Freud and the beginnings of psychoanalytical literary theory
week 4: 'The death of the author': Barthes and Mallarmé
week 5: Textuality: the notion of literature and the beginning of structuralism
week 6: Textuality: Derrida and close reading
week 7: Case-study: a century of Mallarmé criticism
week 8: Post-colonial theory
week 9: Case-study: 'Orientalism' and the Celtic regions
week 10: Applying theory
week 11: Student presentations and Conclusions (two sessions)

Reading Lists