In-depth Literary and Cultural Theory

Duration

30h Th

Number of credits

Lecturer

Shannon Lambert

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the second semester

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

"Critical Bodies: Close Reading, Embodiment, and New Trends in Literary Theory": This MA course approaches new trends in literary theory through the lens of the body. While we might first think of the body as a flesh-and-blood organism, bodies have additional dimensions as phenomenological, social, cultural, ecological, and nonhuman (Johnson 2008). We begin by thinking about how our critical engagement with texts and with theory relies on the language of the body. We then turn to affect theory and (new approaches to) phenomenology to explore how the biological body operates within texts and in our reading practices. The course then zooms further out to socio-cultural approaches to literary and critical bodies such as disability studies, queer theory, and postcolonial studies. The final part of the course takes us to ecological understandings of the body by considering growing theoretical frameworks such as transcorporeality, critical animal studies, and technology studies. We conclude the course by looking at theories of the post-digital. We will ask: how do practices of close reading engage with the disembodiment of large-scale data processors like Generative AI? What, in other words, is the role of the embodied critic in our contemporary moment? The course places special emphasis on close reading and the idea that interpretation and theoretical framing should be built from the ground up-that is, from what we find in the primary texts themselves. Given this, each week's theoretical focus will be guided by a close reading of a short work of fiction or poetry.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

Outcomes and final competencies include:

• An understanding of literary theory's twenty-first-century intersectional and interdisciplinary turn
• An improved ability to identify and interrogate theoretical frameworks both orally and in writing
• An improved ability to carefully close read texts and connect them to their socio-cultural and environmental contexts
• A better understanding of how embodiment influences reading, writing, and criticism
• An ability to critically examine and reflect on the affordances, limitations, and ethics of new technologies in literary criticism (i.e. Generative AI)

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

A very good knowledge of English.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

This course is taught in seminar format.

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Face-to-face course

Course materials and recommended or required readings

Platform(s) used for course materials:
- eCampus


Further information:

Further information on course materials:

This course involves nine primary readings (short stories and poems) coupled with a weekly theoretical reading. Examples include Karen Joy Fowler's short story "Us" (2013) and Natalie Diaz's poem "Manhattan is a Lenape Word" (2020). 

 

Theoretical Readings will be made available to students throughout the year

 

 

Exam(s) in session

Any session

- In-person

oral exam

Written work / report


Further information:

The final grade for this course will be based on contributions to class forums, an oral presentation, and a written essay.

Work placement(s)

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

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Contacts

Shannon Lambert

Association of one or more MOOCs

Items online