Literary Research Methods

An introductory survey of selected theories in contemporary literary criticism. Depending on the interests of the teachers and students, the course may pay a good deal of attention to one important theory or review a number of theories in less detail. In all cases, students become familiar with the major concepts of a theory. They learn how to apply elements of this theory to a variety of literary texts, as well as to decide which theories work better with one kind of literary text than another.

To become familiar with some of the contemporary theories used to analyse literary texts, learning how to use the terminology, as well as how to apply the same theory to different texts and genres.

A strong command of oral and written English.

1. Major critical approaches to the study of literature 2. Literary criticism and literary theory. 3. Reader-Response theory; reader-oriented theories; W. Iser’s work. 4. Interpreting Joyce’s “The Dead” through reader-response theory 5. Feminist literary theory; Helene Cixous’ ideas; application to the film The Hours. 6. Feminism and fairy tales: Angela Carter’s “The Bloody Chamber” 7. Psychoanalytical literary criticism. Freud on sublimation. 8. Gender stereotypes and identity; sociological approaches to identity change. (stories by LeGuin, Kincaid, Ivan Coyote). 9. Narratological criticism: treatment of time in narrative; narrators and focalizers. 10. Postcolonial literary theory.The historical context of racism in British and American society in the 19 and 20th centuries. British imperialism in India: Kipling’s stories. Continuing racism in American society: Alice Walker’s fiction. 11. Popular (mass) genres of fiction. Theory of the Comic: S. Maugham’s stories.

1. Explaining the major ideas developed by literary theories like reader response theory, psychoanalytical literary criticism, feminist literary theory, narratology, identity theory and postcolonial literary theory. 2. Recognizing literary terms and linking them to specific theories 3. Explaining and using theoretical concepts from literary theories in analysing texts and genres 4. Explaining how the same literary text can be interpreted differently according to diverse literary theories.