Summer 2019 Course Descriptions

English 691:Theories of Interpretation from New Criticism to the Present (S. Schneider)

This course will look at theories of language and interpretation--that odd cluster referred to as "Critical Theory"--and how those have developed within the field of English Studies over the last century or so.  We'll do this by grouping these threes into three loose (and often overlapping) camps: Formalism, Structuralism, and Materialism.  We'll look at how these camps developed from New Criticism and Russian Formalism, through Structuralism and Poststructuralism, and how these approaches have in turn influenced literary interpretation, poetics, and rhetoric.

Students can be expected to produce keyword essays and a longer position paper.  The text for this course will most likely be _Critical Theory_ by Robert Dale Parker.  Other primary texts for this course will be placed on Blackboard.

I will make the calendar and assessments for this course available at the start of the summer so as to give people time to familiarize themselves with the materials prior to the class starting in earnest.

Students may wish to consult _An Introduction to Literature, Criticism, and Theory_ by Royles and Bennett and What is Philosophy_ by Delueze and Guattari to get a sense of the approach to the class.