Literary theory explains the place, the nature, the task, and the formal aspects of literature. In ancient times, Greek philosophers such as Plato or Aristotle interrogated the nature of poetry and in which relationship a literary representation stands to reality as such. Since the 19th century things have become more complicated than attributing to literature the function of an expression of general truths about human life or bestowing a sense of beauty and entertainment on human life.
The seminar will address theoretical and philosophical approaches to literature and culture ranging from the mid 20th century to the present. At issue will be theories/methods/approaches dedicated to New Criticism, structuralism/formalism, reader response theory, psychoanalysis, feminism/gender studies, poststructuralism/deconstruction, postmodernism, politics, ethnic literary and cultural studies, postcolonial theory and transnationalism, as well as 21st century developments in ecocriticsm and and affect / cognitive studies.
Copies of relevant chapters of various approaches will be provided and collected in a digicampus-folder on this website. Students are required to purchase: Terry Eagleton (ed.), Literary Theory: An Introduction (Oxford: Blackwell, cont. repr.) and Martin Middeke/Timo Müller/Christina Wald/Hubert Zapf (eds.) English and American Studies (Stuttgart: Metzler, 2012).
Anmelderegeln
Diese Veranstaltung gehört zum Anmeldeset "Anmeldung gesperrt (global)".