ENGL 621 Literary Theory Today

What is ¿literary theory¿ and why should it matter? Pursuing a rigorous course of readings and writings, this course will seek to answer these related questions by introducing graduate students to several traditions of twentieth and twenty-first century thought that have been of fundamental importance to the study of literature. Literary theory has made possible a much broader and richer encounter with texts of all kinds, from novels, poems, and plays to films, media, and the visual arts; this course seeks to understand how and why literary theory encourages new experiences and understandings of texts.

3 Credit(s)