Theory of literature 3001-11B1TL
The lecture elicits permanence and continuity of literary criticism in the twentieth and the twenty-first century. It begins with mapping up, i.e. systemizing, modern theory by tracing the main lines of its historical movement from neoidealistic currents to anthropology of literature. It reconstructs the presumptions hermeneutics, phenomenology, formalism, structuralism, semiotics, speech act theory, sociology of literature, psychoanalysis, deconstructionism, and poststructuralism are based on. In addition to the historical presentation the lecture presents the chief problems that have been inherent in all the major trends of literary studies throughout the history, for instance: intention and meaning; meaning and interpretation; a form of an utterance and its semantics; text and context; historical and theoretical interpretation, creative process and reception of the literary work, comparative literature. The lecture also takes notice of some of the main protagonists in the twentieth century literary studies, with regard to the lecturer’s conviction of individual author’s significance not only for literary but also for scientific texts.
Overview of the major trends in literary studies and main problems they share aims at making students receptive to contentious and historically determined character of the trends’ conclusions. It draws attention to not always obvious meaning of a number of notions and terms and to these notions’ philosophical and methodological backdrop. It focuses on the key issues, such as cognizance of a text, principally (though not always) the literary text, its reference, its linkage with the persons of an author and a reader, its relation to the linguistic, artistic, cultural, ideological context. It renders the dissimilarity between the conceptualizations of the issues as they are put forward by literary theory and the conclusions reached within the framework of other literary disciplines.
Type of course
Mode
Prerequisites (description)
Learning outcomes
- Student acquires the knowledge of key-notions of modern and post-modern literary studies;
- becomes capable of applying them in his or her own research on literature and other kinds of texts of culture;
- becomes acquainted with the assumptions taken by particular schools;
- is able to compare them with each other and with the other branches of science and arts.
- attains the ability to critically read and interpret the theoretical text, put it in its methodological context, associate it with assumptions accepted in other disciplines and in arts.
Assessment criteria
Participation in discussion is a condition of class completion, which allows students to enter for the general exam. Course material is selected from the lists of compulsory and supplementary readings, still instructor is free to choose a text at will. Course requirements are set by instructor who makes them known at the beginning of the semester. The requirements may be as follows: class presentations, research paper, analysis of an article of instructor’s choice, interpretation of a literary text conducted in the way a member of a given school would have done it, translation of a scientific text. Instructor is given the right to test student’s knowledge at any time.
The oral exam consists of two parts. The first one is mandatory and held at the basic level. Students answer the questions that are comprised in the integrated and open set of questions, which is to be found on the Internet Site of the Institute of Polish Literature (www.ilp.uw.edu.pl). The questions relate to the knowledge gained at the lecture, derived from the textbooks, and complementary readings.
The second part (enlarged and optional) involves information acquired at the lecture and contained in the supplementary readings. Student chooses one of seven lists of supplementary readings. Four is the highest grade student may receive when he or she enters only for the first part of the examination. Once student achieves the grade four, he or she is granted the right to take the part two of the examination. The grade five is reserved for those alone who decide to pass the exam at the level.
Additional information
Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: