Introduction To Literary Theory

Programme: BA Course: Introduction to Literary Theory Semester: IV Code: OEN401 Objectives • To introduce the students to concepts, concerns, critical debates in theorising literary texts • To expose students to the applicability of the theoretical frameworks • To enable students to critically perceive and engage with productions of meanings, significations and negotiations Level of Knowledge: Working knowledge of English and literature Module I What is Literature?

10 Hrs

What is Literary Theory? Humanist Literary Theory: Plato; Aristotle; Horace, Sir Philip Sidney; Sir Francis Bacon; Joseph Addison; Edmond Burke; Samuel Johnson; Sir Joshua Reynolds; William Wordsworth; Samuel Taylor Coleridge; John Keats; Edgar Allan Poe; Matthew Arnold Module II 10 Hrs Structuralism: Ferdinand de Saussure; Claude Levi-Strauss and ‘The Structural Study of Myth’; Humanism, Structuralism, Poststructuralism Deconstruction: Binary Opposition; The Role of the Centre; Bricolage Module III 15 Hrs Psychoanalysis: Sigmund Freud ‘Creative Writers and Day Dreaming’; Jacques Lacan; ‘Self’ to ‘Subject’ Feminism: ‘Pre-poststructuralist’ Feminist Literary Theory; Poststructuralist Feminist Literary Theory; Hélène Cixous and ‘The Laugh of the Medusa’; Luce Irigaray and ‘This Sex Which Is Not One’ Queer Theory: Flexible Sexuality?; Gay/Lesbian Studies; History to Historicism; Humanist History; New Historicism Module IV 15 Hrs Ideology and Discourse: Marxist Theory: A Few Basics; Loius Althusser and Ideology; Mikhail Bakhtin and ‘Discourse in the Novel’; Michel Foucault: Power/Knowledge, and the Author Function

Race and Postcolonialism: Colonialism and English; Henry Louis Gates Jr and ‘The Signifying Monkey’; Postcolonialism and Orientalism; Homi Bhaba and ‘The Location of Culture’; Gloria Anzaldúa and ‘Boderlands/La Frontera’ Postmodernism: Modernity; Jean Baudrillard; Jean-François Lyotard; Giles Deleuze and Felix Guattari Module V 10 Hrs Indian Classical Literary Theories: Rasa, Alamkara; Riti; Dhvani; Vakrokti; Guna/Dosa; Aucitya; Mahavakya; Discourse Analysis; Rajasekhara’s Composite Model; Interpretation Jonathan Culler ‘Literary Theory in the Undergraduate Programme’ Total No of Hrs: 60 Bibliography Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 8th ed. New York: Wardworth, 2005. Ahmand, Aijaz. In Theory: Classes, Nations, Literatures. Rpt. New Delhi: OUP, 2006. Culler, Jonathan. The Pursuit of Signs: Semiotics, literature, deconstruction. London/New York: Routledge, 2001. Devy, G.N., ed. Indian Literary Criticism: Theory and Interpretation. Rpt. Hyderabad: Orient Longman, 2007. Eagleton, Terry. Literary Theory: An Introduction. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell, 2008 ---. The Function of Criticism. London: Verso, 2005. Gurrin, Wilfred L, et al. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. 5th ed. New York: OUP, 2005. Habib, M.A.R., ed. A History of Literary Criticism and Theory: From Plato to the Present. Oxford: Blackwell, 2008. John, Eileen, and Dominic McIver Lopes, eds. Philosophy of Literature: Contemporary and Classic Readings. Oxford: Blackwell, 2004. John, Eileen, and Dominic McIver Lopes. Philosophy of Literature: Contemporary and Classic Readings. Oxford: Blackwell, 2004. Kapoor, Kapil. Literary Theory: Indian Conceptual Framework. New Delhi: Affiliated East-West Press, 1998. Klages, Mary. Literary Theory: A Guide for the Perplexed. London: Continuum, 2006 Leitch, Vincent B., ed. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. New York: Norton, 2001. Rice, Philip, and Patricia Waugh. Modern Literary Theory. 4th ed. London: Hodder Arnold, 2001. Rivkin, Julie, Michael Ryan, eds. Literary Theory: An Introduction. Rev ed. Oxford: Blackwell, 2003. Rooney, Ellen ed. Feminist Literary Theory. Cambridge: CUP, 2006. Waugh, Patricia. Literary Theory and Criticism: An Oxford Guide. Oxford: OUP, 2006. Testing Pattern: Mid Semester

5x10=50 End Semester and end semester pattern 5x20=100 The question can be specific to topics or comparative.