Postgraduate Course: Theories and Methods of Literary Study II (CLLC11025)
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 | Having pushed the boundaries of the discipline of Comparative Literature in the first semester course, this second semester course enacts a return to the more familiar territory of the literary as primary object of study, but introduces students to - or refreshes their memory of! - a number of different critical theories and approaches to studying the literary object. These are all theories which emerged in the 20th century and which are continuing to inform and feed into contemporary modes of analysis. Over the course of the semester, students will explore a variety of critical approaches to interpreting literary texts in the light of the discussed theories. The opening session on Testimony provides a link between the problematic object of study of the first semester and the focus on theoretical approaches of the second semester. We then survey Formalism and Bakhtin, and subsequently move through literary criticism undertaken from Psychoanalytic, Feminist, Queer and Postcolonial perspectives. Each seminar will concentrate on the discussion of one or two reasonably short theoretical texts, which will then be applied analytically. |
| Course description |
Week 1 Interpreting Testimony (Prof Peter Davies)
Week 2 Russian Formalism and Its Legacy (Dr Alexandra Smith)
Week 3 Mikhail Bakhtin (Dr Alexandra Smith)
Weeks 4 & 5 Psychoanalytic Criticism (Dr Kath Swarbrick)
(NB No classes in Flexible Learning Week)
Weeks 6 & 7 Feminist Criticism (Dr Claire Boyle)
Week 8 Queer Theory (Dr Claire Boyle)
Weeks 9 & 10 Postcolonial Criticism (Dr Raquel Ribeiro)
Week 11 Round up and general discussion, Q&A (Dr Fiona Mackintosh)
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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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 2017/18, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2,
Other Study Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
172 )
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| Additional Information (Learning and Teaching) |
2 hours Other Study
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
One essay of 4,000 words.
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| Feedback |
Formative feedback will be provided individually. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Apply knowledge of a number of literary theories and different approaches to literary study.
- Read a variety of theoretical texts critically and to reflect on aesthetic principles and their historical change within different contexts.
- Assess a range of applications of theories and approaches and their results as well as their usefulness for the students' own research interests.
- Analyse theoretical texts and to convey their arguments effectively in both written and oral form.
- Work autonomously both as part of a group and on their own.
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Reading List
*Barry, Peter, Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory, 3rd edn (Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 2009 [1995])
Bennett, Andrew, and Nicholas Royle, An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory, 4th edn (London and New York: Routledge, 2009)
Bertens, Hans, Literary Theory: The Basics, 3rd edn (London and New York: Routledge, 2013 [2001])
*Culler, Jonathan, Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011)
*Eagleton, Terry, Literary Theory: An Introduction, 2nd edn (Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell, 1983 [1996])
ż Figures of Dissent: Critical Essays on Fish, Spivak, żiżek and Others (New York: Verso, 2003)
Iser, Wolfgang, How to Do Theory (Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2006)
Leitch, Vincent B. Literary Criticism in the 21st Century: Theory Renaissance (London: Bloomsbury, 2014)
Makaryk, Irena R., ed., Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Literary Theory: Approaches, Scholars, Terms (Toronto and London: University of Toronto Press, 1993)
Rivkin, Julie, and Michael Ryan, Literary Theory: An Anthology, 2nd edn (Wiley-Blackwell, 2004)
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | TMLS2 |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Fiona Mackintosh
Tel: (0131 6)50 8303
Email: f.j.mackintosh@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Iain Sutherland
Tel: (0131 6)51 3988
Email: Iain.Sutherland@ed.ac.uk |
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