This course will present a detailed overview of the major figures and movements in Literary Theory and Criticism, beginning with Formalism, and including Structuralism, Psychoanalysis, Marxism, Post-Structuralism, Deconstruction and Post-Modernism, Feminism, Gender Studies, Gay and Lesbian Theory and Criticism, Historicism, Ethnic and Postcolonial Criticism, and Cultural Studies. Students will read and critically examine the major texts of these respective areas, while learning how literary theory is applied to the criticism of texts and ideas. The course will emphasize student application of the methods and practices of literary theory and criticism, as informed by its key ideas and concepts.

The main objectives of this course are threefold: first to introduce students to literary criticism in general; secondly to introduce students to literary criticism specifically applied to literature; and finally, to encourage students to use the different theories in relation to literary pieces of their choice. Students will be introduced to the major schools and methodologies in modern literary criticism relevant to English and American literature. Theories introduced include Formalism, Structuralism, Psychoanalysis, Marxism, Feminism, Gender Studies, Cultural Studies, Reader Response Theories, Postmodernism, Post-Colonialism, among others. Each session will start with a study of a particular literary theory or approach for which students have to prepare by reading critical material. The second part of the session will be practical and will be devoted to the application of the literary theory. The primary material used for analysis will be fairy tales and folktales which are relatively well-known to most students.

Culler, Jonathan. Literary Theory. A Very Short Introduction. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1997.

Materials will be collected by the teacher into a course pack and students will be provided with the required reading materials throughout the semester.

Students are warned that plagiarism is a violation of departmental and university regulations.

Students are warned to use proper copyrighted material, including text books or other materials.