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Introduction to Theory of Literature

Yale,, Spring 2009 , Prof. Paul H. Fry

Updated On 02 Feb, 19

Overview

Introduction - Ways In and Out of the Hermeneutic Circle - Configurative Reading - The Idea of the Autonomous Artwork - The New Criticism and Other Western Formalisms - Russian Formalism - Semiotics and Structuralism - Linguistics and Literature - Deconstruction - Freud and Fiction - Jacques Lacan in Theory - Influence - The Postmodern Psyche - The Social Permeability of Reader and Text - The Frankfurt School of Critical Theory - The Political Unconscious - The New Historicism - The Classical Feminist Tradition - African-American Criticism - Post-Colonial Criticism - Queer Theory and Gender Performativity - The Institutional Construction of Literary Study - The End of Theory?; Neo-Pragmatism - Reflections; Who Doesn't Hate Theory Now?

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Lecture 2: Introduction (cont.)

4.1 ( 11 )

Lecture Details

Introduction to Theory of Literature (ENGL 300)

In this second introductory lecture, Professor Paul Fry explores the interrelation of skepticism and determinism. The nature of discourse and the related issue of discursivity is read through two modern works, Anton Chekovs Cherry Orchard and Henry James The Ambassadors. Exemplary critical focus on literary authority is located in Michel Foucaults "What Is an Author" and [Roland] Barthes "The Death of the Author," both of which are read with an emphasis on their historical contexts. Objections to the approach and conclusions of the two theorists are examined, particularly in light of the rise of cultural studies.

0000 - Chapter 1. Introduction
0152 - Chapter 2. Anton Chekhov and Henry James
1126 - Chapter 3. Author and Authority
1936 - Chapter 4. "The Founders of Discursivity"
2820 - Chapter 5. Critique of the "Author Function"

Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website httpopen.yale.educourses

This course was recorded in Spring 2009.