Literature CS 110: Creative Literary Criticism
Theory and Practice in Literary Discourse 

Instructor(s): James Donelan EC # 28811
Time(s): Tuesday and Thursday, 9:30 am - 10:50 am
Place(s): The Old Little Theater, Rm. 164B

Required Text:
Leitch, V.B. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, 2 nd Edition, W.W. Norton, 2010.

Description: A course in developing your skills as a literary critic and scholar. We will read works in literary theory and criticism, discuss the objectives, audiences, and principles of literary scholarship, and engage in a large-scale project related to literature encountered in other courses. Our objective is to develop a useful, positive, and productive relationship with the world of literary theory and criticism, with an emphasis on the role of creativity. All students are welcome, but those considering graduate study or wishing to refine their academic writing skills will find the course especially useful. Theoretical readings from Kant, Hegel, Sartre, Benjamin, Foucault, and others will be juxtaposed with practical criticism by Shelley, Ransom, Bloom, and others as we build our own critical positions and create works of criticism.

Requirements: The course requires regular attendance at class, discussion of the assigned readings. In addition, you will write two short essays (3-4 pp.) on theory, an oral presentation (5 minutes), and a longer scholarly essay (13-15 pp.). Each short essay will be a brief analysis of a theorist or critic from the readings; the longer essay will be an extended project in literary scholarship on an author of your choice. You are encouraged to decide which author to explore early in the quarter and develop your understanding of the primary and secondary literature over time. The oral presentation will be a summary of your findings in the scholarly project.

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Syllabus

I: The Origins of Literary Theory and Criticism

3/30 Introduction to Literary Theory and Criticism
4/1 Kant, from The Critique of Judgment, 499.

4/6 Hegel, from The Phenomenology of Spirit and Lectures on Aesthetics, 626.
4/8 Wordsworth, “Preface to Lyrical Ballads,” 648

4/13 Shelley, from “A Defence of Poetry,” 695.
4/15 Nietzsche, from On Truth and Lying and The Birth of Tragedy, 870.
4/16 First Theory Analysis Paper Due

II: Major Twentieth-Century Theorists

4/20 T. S. Eliot, “Tradition and the Individual Talent,” 1092.
4/22 Ransom, “Criticism, Inc.,” 1108, and Gramsci, “Formation of the Intellectuals,” 1138.

4/27 Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” 1163.
4/29 Horkheimer and Adorno, from The Culture Industry, 1223.

5/3 Second Theory Analysis Paper Due
5/4 Jakobson, various, 1258, and Lacan, “The Mirror Stage” and “The Signification” 1285.
5/6 Poulet, “Phenomenology of Reading,” 1320, and Sartre, “What is Literature?” 1336.

III: The Theory and Practice of Contemporary Literary Scholarship

5/11 Cleanth Brooks, “The Well Wrought Urn,” 1353, and Wimsatt and Beardsly, “The Intentional Fallacy” and “The Affective Fallacy,” 1374.
5/12 Final Project Bibliography and Prospectus Due
5/13 Austin, “Performative Utterances,” 1430 and Barthes, “The Death of the Author,” 1466.

5/18 Paul de Man, “Semiology and Rhetoric” and Harold Bloom, from The Anxiety of Influence, 1797.
5/20 Foucault, “What is an Author?” 1622, and Derrida, from Of Grammatology, 1822.

5/25 Edward Said, from Orientalism, 1986 and Gilbert and Gubar, from Madwoman, 2023
5/26 Final Project Progress Reports Due
5/27 Special Discussion Day.

6/1 Oral Presentations, Part I
6/3 Oral Presentations, Part II

6/7 Final Project Due