This module offers an introduction to critical theory and the difference that it makes to the analysis of literature. No prior knowledge of critical theory is assumed, and literary examples will be used throughout the course to support and illuminate the reading of the theoretical texts.

- demonstrate a familiarity with different forms of critical theory;

- show how such theories have an impact upon how we read literature.

Timetabled sessions include lectures and discussion sessions where students may have the opportunity to make presentations and/or lead discussion. Lectures are normally supplemented with handouts or slides with content of a reasonable level of detail. These are usually made available to students on Learning Central at least 24 hours before the session.

Students will receive two weekly lectures and a supporting weekly seminar. The lectures aim to provide key knowledge and critical perspectives on all the texts on the module; the seminars provide the opportunity for closer textual analysis and small-group discussion.

WHAT IS EXPECTED OF ME?

Students are expected to attend and participate in the lectures and seminars for all modules on which they are enrolled. Students with good cause to be absent should inform their module leaders, who will provide the necessary support. Students with extenuating circumstances should submit the Extenuating Circumstances Form in accordance with the School’s procedures.

The total number of hours which students are expected to devote to each 20-credit module is 200. Of these, 30 hours will be contact hours with staff (lectures and seminars); the remaining 170 hours should be spent on self-directed learning for that module (reading, preparation for seminars, research, reflection, formative writing, assessed work, exam revision).  There are also additional seminars and workshops that students are able to attend.

The particular skills of the module bear upon reading and understanding material that often invites us to rethink established, ‘common-sensical’ approaches to literary analysis. This requires careful scholarship, sensitivity to language, and historical/contextual awareness. Employability skills include the ability to synthesise information, operating in group-based discussion involving negotiating ideas, and producing clear, informed arguments in a professional manner.

Essay (3200 words) = 100%
Approx date of assessment in May

The module is assessed according to the Marking Criteria set out in the English Literature Student Handbook. There are otherwise no academic or competence standards which limit the availability of adjustments or alternative assessments for students with disabilities.

The main readings for this module are essays, chapters from books, journal articles, and fictions. These will be provided, wherever possible, in a photocopied module reader. Students should contact the module leader as early as possible if they will require readings in an alternative format.

INDICATIVE TOPICS AND PRIMARY READINGS

FREUD AND THE UNCONSCIOUS

Sigmund Freud, The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, trans. by Anthea Bell (London: Penguin, 2002).

THE UNCONSCIOUS OF THE TEXT

Catherine Belsey, Critical Practice, 2^nd ed. (London and New York: Routledge, 2002), pp. 95-113.

Arthur Conan Doyle, ‘Charles Augustus Milverton’, The Return of Sherlock Holmes (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1981), pp. 162-80.

ORIENTALISM

Edward W. Said, Orientalism (London: Penguin, 1995), pp.1-28.

Gustave Flaubert, Letter to Dr Jules Cloquet, 15 January 1850, in Flaubert in Egypt: A Sensibility on Tour, ed. and trans. by Francis Steegmuller (London: Penguin, 1996), pp. 79-82.

Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone (London: Penguin, 1998).

LANGUAGE

Ferdinand de Saussure, Course in General Linguistics, ed. by Charles Bally and Albert Sechehaye, trans. by Wade Baskin (London: Fontana, 1974) pp. 111-122.

AUTHORSHIP

Roland Barthes, ‘The Death of the Author’, in The Rustle of Language, trans. Richard Howard (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1986), pp. 49-55.

Leo Tolstoy, The Kreutzer Sonata (any edition) and ‘Postface to The Kreutzer Sonata’, in The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories, trans. David McDuff and Paul Foote (London: Penguin, 2008), pp. 299-311.

Michel Foucault, ‘What is an Author?’, trans. by Donald F. Bouchard, Screen 20.1 (1979): 13-29.

REALISM

Colin MacCabe, ‘Realism and the Cinema: Notes on Some Brechtian Theses’, in Theoretical Essays (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1985), pp. 34-9.

Zadie Smith, On Beauty: A Novel (London: Hamish Hamilton, 2005), pp. 7-16.

BEYOND REALISM

Jean-François Lyotard, ‘Answer to the Question: What is the Postmodern?’, in The Postmodern Explained to Children: Correspondence 1982-1985, trans. Don Barry et al. (London: Turnaround, 1992), pp. 9-25.

John Barth, ‘Lost in the Funhouse’, in Lost in the Funhouse: Fiction for Print, Tape, Live Voice (London: Penguin, 1972), pp.77-101.

Laurence Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (London: Penguin, 1985), pp. 450-5.

John Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer (London: Penguin, 2000), pp. 1-22.

James Joyce, Finnegans Wake (London: Penguin, 2000), pp. 3-5.

INDICATIVE SECONDARY READING LIST:

(Indicative primary readings are outlined above under ‘Syllabus Content’.)

Indicative secondary reading list:

Catherine Belsey, Critical Practice, 2^nd ed. (London and New York: Routledge, 2002).

---, Poststructuralism: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2002).

John Caughie (ed.), Theories of Authorship: A Reader (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1981).

Terry Eagleton, Literary Theory: An Introduction (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996).

Antony Easthope, The Unconscious (London and New York: Routledge, 1999).

Simon Malpas, The Postmodern (London and New York: Routledge, 2005).

Pam Morris, Realism (London and New York: Routledge, 2003).

Edward Said, ‘Orientalism Reconsidered’, Cultural Critique 1 (1985): 89-107.

Nicholas Royle and Andrew Bennett, An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory, 4^th ed. (London: Pearson Longman, 2009).

Patricia Waugh, Metafiction: The Theory and Practice of Self-Conscious Fiction (London: Methuen, 1984).

Robert Young, White Mythologies: Writing History and the West (London and New York: Routledge, 1990).