The aim of this course is to introduce students to the philosophical and theoretical movements that set the grounds for literary criticism. They are an indispensable tool for understanding literary and cultural texts in depth. Each theory will be discussed and analyzed in class and illustrated with selected texts to further practical understanding of their complexity. The class will cover a wide range of theories produced during the 19th- and 20th-century, such as Marxism, psychoanalysis, structuralism and post structuralism, feminism, and post colonialism among others. (1 unit)

Required texts: Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan, Literary Theory: An Anthology, 2a ed., (Blackwell Publishings, UK and USA. 2004) ISBN: 979-1-4051-0696.2; other material in electronic form provided at Middlebury.