E456 Literary Criticism of the 20th Century Syllabus, Spring 2003

SYLLABUS FOR E456 CRITICISM OF THE 20TH CENTURY
CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY, SPRING 2003

*2023 Note. Most links have been removed from this archival version of the syllabus.

COURSE INFORMATION. English 456. Literary Criticism of the Twentieth Century. Th. 3:00 – 5:50 p.m. Location: Wilkinson Hall (WH) 221. Instructor: Alfred J. Drake, Ph.D. Office hours: Th. 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. in Jazzman Café. Email: ajdrake_at_ajdrake.com. Catalog description: “Prerequisite, Eng 104. An introduction to the rich and varied forms of modern criticism and theory. Focusing on important critical questions (the role of the reader in determining the meaning of a literary text; the social role of literature; the problems of censorship), students explore modern critical approaches ranging from New Criticism, structuralism, and the “new” historicism, to deconstruction, feminist criticism, and semiotics. (Offered spring semester.) 3 credits.”

COURSE RATIONALE AND ACTIVITIES

FOCUS AND OBJECTIVES. My initial aim is to ground you in the theories behind current movements in literary criticism. We will first study significant predecessor texts from the Western philosophical tradition and thereby gain historical perspective on key insights that run through contemporary theory. Among the frameworks we will move on to study are the American New Criticism, Marxism, structuralism, post-structuralism, post-colonial theory, cultural studies, and feminism. In his introduction to Critical Theory since Plato, Hazard Adams writes that we may categorize literary theories “according to where the critic ‘locates’ the literary work, or poem—in the nature it copies, in the audience it finds, in the author, or in its own verbal structure. . . .” Following Meyer Abrams, he correlates these orientations “the mimetic, the pragmatic . . . the expressive, and the objective.” This schema helps us deal productively with the diffuseness of theory: most practitioners generally fit within, span, or criticize these basic orientations. Finally, trust that you can master difficult material by successive approximations. You may not fully grasp the readings the first time you study them, but soon, you will start to make their insights your own and adapt them to your purposes as a student of literature.

ACTIVITIES. In class, there will be a mix of lectures, whole-class and smaller-group discussion, occasional quizzes, a mid-term, and a final exam. I encourage questions and comments—class sessions improve when students take an active part. Outside class, do the assigned readings before the relevant discussion dates and start planning and drafting your two essays early. In literary studies, the aim is to read and discuss actively and thereby to develop your own voice in response to the texts you read. Insightful interpretation and the ability to make compelling connections are central goals. The essay, discussions, and journal-keeping should combine to help you work towards these goals.

HOW YOUR PERFORMANCE WILL BE EVALUATED

COURSE POLICIES. Please review the course policies page early in the semester since it addresses matters such as attendance, incompletes and withdrawal, late or missing work, and academic integrity.

METHODS OF EVALUATION: Two 5-page papers, a take-home midterm, and an in-class or take-home final. The relevant paper/exam dates will be mentioned on the syllabus page. A likely grade breakdown would be 15% for paper one, 25% for paper two, 25% for the midterm, and 35% for the final exam. Students are encouraged to keep a journal of responses to study questions available on our course web site. You cannot pass this class without completing all requirements. Due dates are subject to change.

REQUIRED TEXTS AT CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY BOOKSTORE

Leitch, Vincent B., ed. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. New York: Norton, 2001. ISBN: 0393974294.

Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory. 2nd edition. Manchester: Manchester UP, 2002. ISBN: 0719062683.

Culler, Jonathan. Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1997. ISBN: 019285383-x.

SCHEDULE: WORKS DISCUSSED ON FOLLOWING DATES

QUESTION SETS

*2023 Note. Visitors can download the following questions in PDF format: CRITICISM AND THEORY 2003-2007.

SCHEDULE: WORKS DISCUSSED ON DATES INDICATED

WEEK 1

01/30. Introduction to Course.

WEEK 2

02/06. First Session: Immanuel Kant. From Critique of Judgment, Book I: “Analytic of the Beautiful.“

02/06. Second Session: Immanuel Kant. From Critique of Judgment, Book II: “Analytic of the Sublime.“

WEEK 3

02/13. First Session: Georg Hegel. From Phenomenology of Spirit: “The Master-Slave Dialectic” and from Lectures on Fine Art. Also read the following Karl Marx And Friedrich Engels selections: from Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844; from The German Ideology; from The Communist Manifesto; from Grundrisse; from “Preface” to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy; from Capital, Vol. 1: Chapter 1. “Commodities.”

02/13. Second Session: Friedrich Nietzsche. “On Truth and Lying in a Non-Moral Sense.”

WEEK 4

02/20. First Session: Friedrich Nietzsche (cont.) and Ferdinand de Saussure. From Course in General Linguistics.

02/20. Second Session: Ferdinand de Saussure. From Course in General Linguistics.

WEEK 5

02/27. First Session: Cleanth Brooks. “The Heresy of Paraphrase” and “The Formalist Critics.”

02/27. Second Session: W. K. Wimsatt and Monroe C. Beardsley. “The Intentional Fallacy” and “The Affective Fallacy.”

WEEK 6

03/06. First Session: Antonio Gramsci. “The Formation of the Intellectuals.”

03/06. Second Session: Walter Benjamin. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.”

WEEK 7

03/13. First Session: Claude Lévi-Strauss. Ch. 28, “A Writing Lesson” from Tristes Tropiques.

03/13. Second Session: Roland Barthes. “The Death of the Author”; “From Work to Text.” [Paper 1 Due in Class Week 7.]

WEEK 8

03/20. First Session: Jacques Derrida. From Dissemination, selections from “Plato’s Pharmacy.”

03/20. Second Session: Jacques Derrida. From Dissemination, selections from “Plato’s Pharmacy.”

WEEK 9

03/27. First Session: Michel Foucault. “What is an Author?” and from “Truth and Power.”

03/27. Second Session: Michel Foucault. From The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1: “Introduction.”

WEEK 10

04/03. First Session: Jean-François Lyotard. “Defining the Postmodern”; Jürgen Habermas,
The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere…. From Part II. “Social Structures of the Public Sphere.” Also “Modernity – an Incomplete Project.”

04/03. Second Session: Walter Benn Michaels and Steven Knapp. “Against Theory.”

WEEK 11

04/10. First Session: Frantz Fanon. “The Pitfalls of National Consciousness“ and “On National Culture“ from The Wretched of the Earth.

04/10. Second Session: Edward Said. “Introduction” to Orientalism.

WEEK 12

04/17. No class, spring break.

WEEK 13

04/24. First Session: Homi Bhabha. “The Commitment to Theory.”

04/24. Second Session: Stuart Hall. “Cultural Studies and Its Theoretical Legacies.”

WEEK 14

05/01. First Session: Simone de Beauvoir. “Myth and Reality” from The Second Sex.

05/01. Second Session: Hélène Cixous. “The Laugh of the Medusa.”

WEEK 15

05/08. First Session: J. L. Austin. “Performative Utterances.”

05/08. Second Session: Judith Butler. “Preface” and “Chapter 3” from Gender Trouble.

FINALS WEEK

05/15. Final exam: 7:00 – 9:30 p.m. Thursday May 15. Paper 2 due today in class.

SYLLABUS FOR E456 CRITICISM OF THE 20TH CENTURYCHAPMAN UNIVERSITY, SPRING 2003