Literary Theory ((4 Credits))

Catalog description

Literary Theory examines the main trends of literary theory of the last century, and asks students to evaluate and critically apply literary theory. The course introduces some of the different strategies of reading and integrates philosophical and social perspectives in the consideration of the questions: what is literature, how is it produced, and what is its purpose? In general, we will: (1) consider selected readings in order to see how they define literary interpretation; (2) consider the limits of each particular approach; and (3) trace the emergence of subsequent theoretical paradigms as responses to what came before. Students cannot take both LITR 3049 and LITR 3050