English 285 - INTRO TO CONTEMP LIT THEORY

What is literature? Why and how should it be studied? How does literature function in culture and society? Does the meaning of a text depend on the author's intention or on how readers read? What counts as a valid interpretation? How do changing understandings?of language, the unconscious, history, class, gender, race, or sexuality?change how we read? This course introduces some of the major 20th century philosophical questions that have shaped literary studies today, drawing upon a variety of disciplines, and influential movements or approaches such as the New Criticism, structuralism, poststructuralism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, postcolonialism, gender and cultural studies. Strongly recommended for students considering graduate studies. Prerequisite: ENG 199 or a 200-level literature course.