ENG 5079 Fall 2021 Della Gatta

Why theory? What are the frameworks that have shaped the interpretation of literature and how have they developed and shifted over time? Through what lenses and ideologies do we define terms such as author, text, narrative? What does it mean to be “critical?” This course will provide a historical introduction to various schools of thought from literary studies, cultural studies, and philosophy, as well as their intersections. In addition, we will distinguish between research methods and theoretical methodologies for analyzing a text. Finally, we will address the field of cultural studies that encompasses issues of identity (race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, ableism, neurodiversity, etc.), political economy, and performance and new media. Students will learn about the primary tenets of major schools of theory as a foundation for their study of literature.

The class will address the major schools of literary theory through works by Richard Schechner, Jacques Derrida, Edmund Husserl, Julia Kristeva, Michel Foucault, and Stephen Greenblatt. Likewise, the course will engage with a sampling of the branches of cultural studies, with possible selections from Gloria Anzaldúa, Judith Butler, Richard Dyer, Stuart Hall, José Martí, Laura Mulvey, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Raymond Williams, Sylvia Wynter, and others.