History and Form

Catalog description

An exploration of the relation between historical and formalist approaches to literary interpretation, from the New Critics to the so-called "New Formalism." What is the role of form in historically and politically oriented criticism (examples will be taken from Marxism, the New Historicism, feminism, cultural studies, and post-colonial theory)? What happens to history when form takes center stage (for example, in structuralism and deconstruction)? Is it possible (and desirable) to avoid a pendulum swing between the poles of historicism and formalism and to mediate the conflicting claims of history and form? Or is a focus on one at the expense of the other the necessary cost of an incisive interpretive strategy? In addition to theoretical readings that exemplify the conflict between history and form, attention will be paid to the history of reception of one or more literary works in order to articulate the practical implications of their opposition and interdependence. Enrollment limited to 15.