230622 Literary Theory (S) (SoSe 2007)

This course will introduce students to the most important theoretical approaches to literature. After a brief look at some views from the history of literary criticism (from the Renaissance, Romanticism and the late 19th century), we will compare the central tenets 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. To facilitate comparison between the approaches, we will apply them to William Shakespeare's The Tempest throughout.

A reader containing theoretical texts will be made available at the beginning of the semester. In addition, students are requested to purchase a copy of Shakespeare's The Tempest (any of the following editions: Arden Edition, Oxford Shakespeare, or the New Cambridge Shakespeare).