LITS2306 READING SCHEDULE MODULE TWO:
FROM ROMANTICISM TO NEO-CLASSICISM

Please note that I have made some adjustments to the Reading Schedule for this Module

WEEK 7: THE CRITIQUE OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT: ROMANTIC THEORIES OF IDENTITY

Required Readings:

Lec. 1: Cultural Nationalism

• Johann Gottfried von Herder Ideas Towards a Philosophy of the History of Man [1784-1891] (pp. 35-49 in Patrick Gardiner, ed. Theories of History; also in folder) [You will also find in the folder a copy of brief excerpts from several of his works]

Lec. 2: German Idealism

• G. W. F. Hegel The Philosophy of History [1805-1806; 1830-31] (also excerpts pp. 76-87 in Patrick Gardiner, ed. Nineteenth Century Philosophy; pp. 457-464 in The Modern Tradition, ed. Richard Ellman, et al.; also in folder) [You will also find in the folder a copy of brief excerpts from several of his works]

Tutorial: Post-colonial / African Identity in the Diaspora

• W. E. B. Du Bois:

  • "The Conservation of Races" [1897] (in David Levering Lewis, ed. W. E. B. Du Bois: a Reader; also in Eric Sundquist, ed. The Oxford W. E. B. Du Bois Reader; also in folder)

  • "Of Our Spiritual Strivings" [1897] (in David Levering Lewis, ed. W. E. B. Du Bois: a Reader; also in Eric Sundquist, ed. The Oxford W. E. B. Du Bois Reader; also in folder)

Recommended Readings:

Off-Line:

• Harland, Richard Literary Theory: from Plato to Barthes: Ch. 4: "Romantic Literary Theory":
  • "Herder and the Spirit of the Time" (pp. 62-65)
  • "The Influence of Kant" (pp. 65-69)

On-Line:

• Nineteenth Century Philosophy:
  • Herder
  • Hegel
• African American Philosophy: Du Bois

Notes:

• 07A Herder Ideas Towards a Philosophy of the History of Man

• 07B Hegel The Philosophy of History

• 07Bi Hegel Overview (Handout initially distributed in class)

• 07C Summary of differences between Rationalism and Empiricism (Handout initially distributed in class)

WEEK 8: ROMANTIC CRITICAL THEORY I: THE EXPRESSIVE TURN

Required Readings:

Lec. 1: the 'Discovery' of 'Longinus'

• 'Longinus' On the Sublime [1st century CE?] (pp. 76-98 in Adams; pp. 138-154 in Leitch)

Lec. 2: the New Emphasis on Originality

• Edward Young "From Conjectures on Original Composition" [1759] (pp. 329-337 in Adams; pp. 427-437 in Leitch)

Tutorial: Femininity

• Mary Wollstonecraft A Vindication of the Rights of Woman [1790]:
  • Ch. 6 "The Effect Which an Early Association of Ideas Has Upon Character" (pp. 395-398 in Adams)
  • Ch. 13 "Some Instances of the Folly Which the Ignorance of Women Generates . . ." (pp. 398-399 in Adams)

Recommended Readings:

Off-Line:

On-Line:

• Classical Aesthetics: 'Longinus'

• Nineteenth Century Aesthetics / Critical Theory: British Romanticism: Young

• Early Modern Feminist Theory: Wollstonecraft

Notes:

• 08A 'Longinus' On the Sublime

• 08B Young Conjectures on Original Composition

WEEK 9: ROMANTIC AND NEO-ROMANTIC CRITICAL THEORY II: THE AUTHOR / EXPRESSIVE LITERARY HISTORY

Lec. 1: Hermeneutics: Interpreting the Author's Meaning

• Friedrich Schleiermacher "Outlines of the 1819 Lectures" [1819] (pp. 613-625 in Leitch)

Lec. 2: Cultural Nationalist Literary History

• Hippolyte Taine "From History of English Literature" [1863] (pp. 609-620 in Adams)

Tutorial: Post-colonial Authorship / Literary History

• Kamau Brathwaite Roots: "The African Presence in Caribbean Literature" [1970] (pp. 190-258; in folder)

Recommended Readings:

Off-Line:

On-Line:

• Nineteenth Century Aesthetics / Critical Theory:
  • French Romanticism: Taine
  • German Romanticism: Schleiermacher

• Post-colonial Critical Theory: Caribbean Critical Theory: Brathwaite

Notes:

• 09A Schleiermacher "Outlines of the 1819 Lectures"
• 09B Taine History of English Literature

WEEK 10: THE RETURN OF NEO-CLASSICISM:
THE REJECTION OF THE AUTHOR / 'AUTHORLESS' AND 'HISTORY-LESS' LITERARY HISTORY

Required Readings:

Lec. 1: an Influential Nineteenth Century View

• Matthew Arnold "The Study of Poetry" [1880] (pp. 603-607 in Adams)

Lec. 2: an Influential 20th Century View

• T. S. Eliot "Tradition and the Individual Talent" [1917] (pp. 761-764 in Adams; pp. 1092-1098 in Leitch)

Tutorial: Feminist Authorship / Literary History

• Virginia Woolf "Women and Fiction" [1929] (pp. 33-40 in The Feminist Critique of Language, ed. Deborah Cameron; also in folder) [this is a condensed version of her more famous A Room of One's Own]

Recommended Readings:

Off-Line:

• Harland, Richard Literary Theory: from Plato to Barthes:
  • Ch. 5 "Social Theories of the 19th Century": "Mathew Arnold" (pp. 87-90)
  • Ch. 6 "Naturalism, Symbolism and Modernism":
    • "Modernism and the Avant-Garde" (pp.113-116)
    • "Hulme and Pound" (pp.116-120)
    • "T. S. Eliot" (pp. 120-124)
  • Ch. 9 "Anglo-American Criticism, 1900-1960": "Leavis and the Leavisites" (pp. 176-182)

On-Line:

• Nineteenth Century Aesthetics / Critical Theory: Nineteenth Century British Victorianism: Arnold
  • Anglo-American Modernism: High Modernism: Eliot
  • Feminist Critical Theory: Modernism: Woolf

Notes:

• 10A Arnold "The Study of Poetry"
• 10B Eliot "Tradition and the Individual Talent"

WEEK 11: NEO-ROMANTICISM VS NEO-CLASSICISM II: REPRESENTATION

Required Readings:

Lec. 1: the Neo-Romantic View

• Charles Baudelaire Selections from The Salon of 1859 [1859] (pp. 622-627 in Adams)

• Henry James "The Art of Fiction" [1884] (pp. 855-869 in Leitch)

Lec. 2: the Neo-Classical View

• Emile Zola  "From The Experimental Novel" [1880] (pp. 645-655 in Adams)

Tutorial: Post-colonial / Feminist Representation

• Ken Ramchand The West Indian Novel and its Background [1970]:
  • "Introduction" (pp.3-15; also in folder)
  • "The Contemporary Linguistic Situation" (pp. 90-96; also in folder)
  • "Dialect and West Indian Fiction" (pp. 96-107; also in folder)
• Cheri Register “Feminist Literary Criticism” (pp. 169-174 in Feminist Literary Theory, ed. Mary Eagleton; also in folder)

Recommended Readings:

Off-Line:

• Harland, Richard Literary Theory: from Plato to Barthes:
  • Ch. 6 "Naturalism, Symbolism and Modernism": "British Aestheticism and Henry James" (pp. 109-113)
  • Ch. 9 "Anglo-American Criticism, 1900-1960": "Leavis and the Leavisites" (pp. 176-182)

On-Line:

• Nineteenth Century Aesthetics / Critical Theory:
  • Baudelaire
  • Henry James
  • Wilde
  • Zola
• Post-colonial Theory:
  • African Critical Theory: Achebe
  • Caribbean Critical Theory: Ramchand
• Feminist Critical Theory: Pragmatist Critical Theory:

Notes:

• 11A Baudelaire The Salon of 1859
• 11B Henry James "The Art of Fiction"
• 11C Zola The Experimental Novel

WEEK 12: NEO-ROMANTICISM VS NEO-CLASSICISM III: THE READER

Required Readings:

Lec. 1: the Neo-Romantic View

• Anatole France "The Adventures of a Soul" [1888-1893] (p. 656 in Adams)

• Walter Pater Studies in the History of the Renaissance: Preface and Conclusion [1873] (pp. 641-643 in Adams; pp. 835-840 in Leitch)

Lec. 2: the Neo-Classical View

• Matthew Arnold "The Function of Criticism at the Present Time" [1864] (pp. 592-603 in Adams; pp. 806-824 in Leitch)

• I. A. Richards Practical Criticism: ch. I and ch. VII [1929] (pp. 827-837 in Adams)

Tutorial: the Post-colonial / Feminist Reader

• Achebe, Chinua 
  • "The Novelist as Teacher" [1965] (pp. 27-31 in Hopes and Impediments: Selected Essays; also in folder)
  • "The Duty and Involvement of the African Writer" [1968] (pp. 162-169 in The Africa Reader, ed. Wilfred Cartey; also in folder)
• Ramchand, Ken "Concern for Criticism" Caribbean Quarterly 16 (1970): 51-60 (also in folder)
• Fetterley, Judith The Resisting Reader [1978]: "Introduction: on the Politics of Literature" (pp. 564-573 in Warhol and Herndl, eds. Feminisms; also in folder)

Recommended Readings:

Off-Line:

• Harland, Richard Literary Theory: from Plato to Barthes:
  • Ch. 5 "Social Theories of the 19th Century": "Mathew Arnold" (pp. 87-90)
  • Ch. 6. "Naturalism, Symbolism and Modernism": "Modernism and the Avant-garde" (pp. 113-116)
  • Ch. 9 "Anglo-American Criticism, 1900-1960": "Richards and Empson" (pp. 168-176)

On-Line:

• Nineteenth Century Aesthetics / Critical Theory: Nineteenth Century British Victorianism:
  • Arnold
  • Pater

• Anglo-American Modernism: High Modernism: Richards

• Post-colonial Theory:
  • African Critical Theory: Achebe
  • Caribbean Critical Theory: Ramchand
• Feminist Critical Theory: Fetterley

Notes:

• 12A France The Literary Life: "The Adventures of a Soul"
• 12B Pater Studies in the History of the Renaissance: Preface and Conclusion
• 12C Arnold "The Function of Criticism at the Present Time"

• 12D Richards Practical Criticism

RETROSPECTIVE: ROMANTICISM VS CLASSICISM

For a famous review of the Classical vs. Romantic debate and a summary of their respective points of view, you may wish to conclude by reading:

• T. E. Hulme "Romanticism and Classicism" [1913-1914] (pp. 728-734 in Adams)