Duration
30h Th
Number of credits
Lecturer
Substitute(s)
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
What is the point of theory? Do we really need theory to read? Is literary theory anything other than a way for literary studies to give itself an air of scientificity, to compete with philosophy, or to fuel polemics that, in the 21st century, often leave us unmoved?
The challenge of this course is to show that literary theory is a living and reflexive space, crucial to equip us when questions arise about texts, their production, their meaning and their teaching.
If time permits, the course should be subdivided as follows:
- Introduction: What is the point of theory?
- I. What is literature?
- II. Can we dissociate the work from the author?
- III. Does fiction build worlds?
- IV. Does reading make us better?
- V. Should we read (and teach) everything?
Each of these five axes will be explored in two stages: a "classic" (ex-cathedra) class session in which important concepts or notions will be identified, followed by a discussion session based on a theoretical article distributed beforehand (one article per axis, so 5 articles in all).
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
The course introduces students to major issues in contemporary literary theory through polemical questions.
At the end of the course, the student will be able to
- identify the crucial theoretical oppositions on a given issue (the author, literature, fiction, empathy and identification, the canon, etc.).
- to bring different theoretical frameworks into dialogue in order to analyse questions of literary theory with finesse and rigour
- to appropriate a body of scholarship and relate it to observed cases
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Basic knowledge of the main concepts of the theory of language and literary theory.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Face-to-face course
Additional information:
Approximately ten class sessions, alternating between ex-cathedra classes and (participatory) discussion sessions based on a common reading.
Recommended or required readings
Recommended reading:
Antoine Compagnon, Le Démon de la théorie, Paris, Seuil, 1998; rééd. coll. "Points".
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- In-person
written exam ( open-ended questions )
Written work / report
Additional information:
Written work OR open course written examination (optional).
Work placement(s)
Organizational remarks
For the evaluation, it is a choice: EITHER the written exam; OR the written work
Contacts
Justine Huppe (FNRS)
My office is located in building A2, on the 4th floor, at the very end of the corridor of the French Literature Department (second last door on the left).