“Hostility to theory usually means an opposition to other people’s theories and an oblivion of one’s own.” –Terry Eagleton, Literary Theory: An Introduction, p. xii
Theory is a way to see the world and there is no way to see the world without theory: we can only be more or less conscious of it. Theory provides terminology and methodology to illuminate specific phenomena (some defined broadly, some narrowly) from a certain, selected angle. Literature is the phenomenon that we are interested in here, and we will see how theory can enrich our speaking and writing about it.
In this seminar we will do three things:
I’m very excited to teach this particular course because, as a student, the study of literary theory was hugely inspiring for my reading experience and all my thinking; I’m looking forward to sharing my enthusiasm with you and hope to re-create this experience for some of you! :)
Also please check out the reading requirements below!
Rhythmus | Tag | Uhrzeit | Format / Ort | Zeitraum |
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Modul | Veranstaltung | Leistungen | |
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23-ANG-M-AngGM1 Grundmodul 1: Theories of Language, Literature and Culture | GM 1.2 Literary Theory | Studienleistung
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Studieninformation |
- | benotete Prüfungsleistung | Studieninformation |
Die verbindlichen Modulbeschreibungen enthalten weitere Informationen, auch zu den "Leistungen" und ihren Anforderungen. Sind mehrere "Leistungsformen" möglich, entscheiden die jeweiligen Lehrenden darüber.
The Studienleistung for this class will be a written mock exam toward the last third of term in preparation for the GM1 module exam.
The required reading for this seminar consists in the following two novels, which are to be read before classes start, and several movies, which you can watch during the semester.
It is important to me that you prepare these media, i.e. read them with a scholarly stance and a critical eye for composition, take notes on formal features, earmark important passages, and draw up character constellations. Use all the skills you have acquired so far in your study of literature, so that you have good access to the material during class discussions. We will apply various literary theories to these media over the course of the semester.
I will select and upload secondary reading for each class toward the beginning of the term, and also send around a syllabus with further details on formalities. Those of you who have studied with me previously know that I will always ask you to prepare a lot of text for the sessions (and it will be difficult, because, well, theory), so plan your studies accordingly, don’t take too many other MA classes and be sure to have enough time on your hands.
I have set up a reserved reading shelf (‘Semesterapparat’) in the LiLi library on C1, with a large selection of introductions to literary theory. The prep assignment for the very first class session will be that you survey this selection to see what we seem to mean when we say ‘literary theory’, but I’ll send around details on that in the week before classes start.
Zu dieser Veranstaltung existiert ein Lernraum im E-Learning System. Lehrende können dort Materialien zu dieser Lehrveranstaltung bereitstellen: