1

1/9

Plato, Republic, Book X (30-38)

Aristotle, Poetics, especially parts 1-18, 23-26 (59-81)

Barry, “Introduction” and “Theory before ‘theory’” (1-37)

(optional) Eagleton, “The Rise of English” in Literary Theory: An Introduction

2

1/16

NO CLASS MEETING: MLK Holiday

The readings for the week, however, go on . . .

Formalisms and Literariness

(optional) Richter, “Formalisms” (749-763)

Shklovsky, “Art as Technique” (774-784)

Brooks, “Irony as a Principle of Structure” (799-806)

Conrad, Heart of Darkness

Heart of Darkness response due by email (or in my mailbox) by Thursday, Jan. 19 at 4pm

3

1/23

Sign and Structure

(optional) Richter, “Structuralism and Deconstruction” (819-837)

Barry, “Structuralism” (38-58)

Saussure, Selections (841-851)

Lévi-Strauss, “The Structural Study of Myth” (859-868)

Barthes, “Striptease” (869-870); “The Structuralist Activity” (871-874)

In Murfin: “A Critical History of Heart of Darkness” (137-162)

Weekly Response: “Meaning”

4

1/30

Textuality and Deconstruction

Barry, “Post-structuralism and Deconstruction” (59-77)

Foucault, “What is an Author?” (904-914)

Derrida, “Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences” (914-926)

In Murfin: “Deconstruction and Heart of Darkness” (205-244)

Weekly Response: “Binary Opposition”

5

2/6

Psychoanalysis and Subjectivity

(optional) Richter, “Psychoanalytic Theory and Criticism” (1106-1122)

Barry, “Psychoanalytic Criticism” (92-115)

Freud, “The Dream-Work” (500-509), “The Uncanny” (514-532)

Weekly Response: “The Unconscious”

6

2/13

Psychoanalysis and Subjectivity (part 2
Lacan, “The Mirror Stage” (1122-1128)

(optional) Poe, “The Purloined Letter” (optional) Lacan, "Seminar on The Purloined Letter"

Ideology and Dialogism

(optional) Richter, “Marxist Criticism” (1198-1214)

Barry, “Marxist Criticism” (150-165)

Marx selections (397-409)

Bakhtin, “Heteroglossia in the Novel” (588-594)

Althusser, “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses” (1263-1272)

Paper Due

7

2/20

Disciplining Subjects

(optional) Richter, “New Historicism and Cultural Studies” (1320-1342)

Barry, “New historicism and cultural materialism” (166-184)

Foucault, “Las Meninas” (1357-1366)

Bourdieu, “Distinction: A Social Critique” (1398-1403)

In Murfin: “The New Historicism and Heart of Darkness” (245-284)

(optional) Supplemental Foucault, selections from Discipline and Punish and other goodies:

• Discipline and Punish - Chapter 1, The Body of the Condemned
• Discipline and Punish - Chapter 3, Panopticism
• The Eye of Power - Excerpt from an interview
• Video: Debat avec Noam Chomsky - Extraits sous-titrés en français, 1971, 12 min.

Weekly Response: “Power”

8

2/27

Genders and Sexualities I

(optional) Richter, “Feminist Literary Criticism” (1502-1519)

Barry, “Feminist Criticism” (116-133)

Kolodny, “Dancing Through the Minefield” (1550-1562)

Haraway, “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century” (1966-1991)

In Murfin: “Feminist and Gender Criticism and Heart of Darkness” (163‑204)

Weekly Response: “Essentialism”

9

3/5

Genders and Sexualities II

(optional) Richter, “Gender Studies and Queer Theory” (1611-1627)

Barry, “Lesbian/gay criticism” (134-149)

Foucault, “History of Sexuality” (1627-1637)

Sedgwick, selections (1683-1691)

Butler, “Imitation and Gender Insubordination” (1707-1719)

Weekly Response: “Identity”

10

3/12

Race, Nation and Postcolonialism

(optional) Richter, “Postcolonialism and Ethnic Studies” (1753-1774)

Barry, “Postcolonial criticism” (185-195)

Achebe, “An Image of Africa” (1783-1790)

Anderson, “From Imagined Communities” (1814-1820)

Bhabha, “Signs Taken for Wonders” (1875-1890)

In Murfin: “Postcolonial Criticism and Heart of Darkness” (285-324)

Revised Paper Due

3/19

Final Exam

Barry, “Theory after ‘theory’”

7:30pm-10pm