230621 Literary Theory (S) (WiSe 2009/2010)

This course will introduce students to the most important theoretical approaches to literature. We will compare the central tenets, concepts, models and methods of influential approaches of the 20th century, including Structuralism and Post-Structuralism, New Historicism, Reader Response Criticism, Discourse Theory, Feminist Criticism/Gender Studies, and Post-Colonial Theory. Work groups will also cast a look at positions from the history of literary criticism (esp. the Renaissance, Romanticism and the late 19th and early 20th century). To facilitate comparison between the approaches, we will apply them to texts. One example will be Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness.

A reader containing theoretical texts will be made available at the beginning of the semester. In addition, students are requested to buy their own copy of Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness.