Proseminar (407-0-20)

Topic

Reading and Theories

Instructors

Anna Parkinson
847/467-5173
1880 Campus Drive, Kresge Hall, Rm 3321, Evanston
Office Hours: By appointment

Meeting Info

Kresge 3354 German Seminar Rm.: Mon 3:00PM - 5:50PM

Overview of class

"Reading" has a history. The aim of this course is to examine the past and present of literary interpretation and reception, in order to better understand the changing relationship of art to commentary and, from there, to critically reflect on our own practices and habits of analysis. Questions that will be addressed are: What are the ethics and the politics of reading? How does the reading of literature exist in a symbiotic relationship with the literary text? What is the place of "theory" in literature? What is the import of forms of interpretation vis-à-vis the choice of subject matter being interpreted? What does it mean to read "professionally"? This seminar will address such questions through a historical overview of approaches to reading, with a particular emphasis on contemporary theoretical paradigms and debates, culminating in a case study of different approaches to a single literary text. In parallel, students will get instruction in skills necessary to graduate- and professional-level academic work, including the workshopping of previous academic work with an eye towards the preparation of a publication-ready article.

Learning Objectives

*To learn about the various methods and approaches to literature, both recent and historical, and to understand them in both intellectual-historical and political context
*To become familiar with current debates and trends in literary theory
*To analyze and evaluate literary-critical scholarship and to reflect critically on their own practices of interpretation
*To learn practical skills necessary to professional academic work in literary studies and critical theory
*To practice workshopping and editing skills and to revise a previously written seminar paper for potential journal submission

Evaluation Method

Class participation, "Paper, final", Presentations, Readings, Writing assignments

Class Materials (Required)

Jonathan Culler, Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction (2nd ed., Oxford UP, 2011); ISBN-13 ‏: ‎ 978-0199691340