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This course shares a website with its
undergraduate equivalent
LITS3304 Post-Structuralisms and
Post-colonialisms.
THUMBNAIL DESCRIPTION
This course introduces students to several
schools of Continental philosophy and critical theory that may be
grouped under the rubric 'Post-Structuralism' (chosen from
Deconstruction, Dialogism, Foucauldian and Deleuzean Thought,
Structuralism, Structuralist Marxism, and Structuralist Psychoanalysis)
as well as Feminist, Post-colonial and African American thinkers who
have engaged with these schools.
DETAILLED DESCRIPTION
In this course, we
will explore several schools of Continental philosophy and critical
theory sometimes termed 'Postmodernist' or,
perhaps more
accurately, 'Post-Structuralist' because they are all informed by (though not uncritically) and, in some cases, seek to extend Saussure's
Structuralist philosophy of language, that is, his theory of the way in
which meaning is produced in human discourse.
We will begin by exploring
general philosophical issues concerning the nature of reality, identity, knowledge
and language advanced by the school in question. We will then
investigate its main critical tenets and interpretative strategies. We will explore in particular what, if
anything, its major theorists have to say about the following issues:
Representation: the nature of the relationship between the
(literary) work and the world;
Audience: the nature of the relationship between the
audience and the (literary) work;
Authorship: the nature of the relationship between the author
and his / her (literary) work;
(Literary) Form: the nature of the formal
structure and genre of (literary) works; and
(Literary) History / intertextuality: the chronological relationship
linking (literary) works.
We will also compare key European and American
essays with seminal Feminist and Post-colonial interventions on the same
topics. For example, we may compare Derrida's "Différance" with
Cixous' "Sorties" and Hall's "Cultural Identity and Diaspora."
Moreover, through close examination of practical illustrations of these
theories (especially with reference to Post-colonial literatures),
students will be encouraged to apply the paradigms discussed in their own
critical writings.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
PREREQUISITES
None, though
LITS6001 Modern Critical Theory
would be very useful. ASSESSMENT
Seminar participation and / or presentation(s)
and / or response(s):
40%
Research Paper (15-20
double-spaced pages; topic to be approved by course director): 60%
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