ENGLISH 361

THEORIES OF LITERARY CRITICISM

TTh 2:10-3:30 // PMH 401
Fall 2015

Prof. Andrew Bozio

abozio@skidmore.edu
TTh 3:40-5:00 // PMH 317

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Since its inception in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, what scholars call theory
has transformed the way that we interpret literature and culture. In this course, we will study that
transformation by undertaking a broad survey of the foundations of contemporary theory before
turning to some of the most prominent theoretical movements of the past thirty years. Specifically,
after reading the work of Foucault, Lacan, Althusser, and Deleuze and Guattari, we will focus upon
the development of postmodernism, queer theory, posthumanism, biopolitics, critical race theory,
transnational studies, disability theory, cognitive approaches to literature, and the digital humanities.
In this way, the course will organize itself around a set of questions. How does culture affect the way
that we make sense of our bodies and the world around us? And how should our answers to that
question inform the work that we undertake in literary studies? The course presumes no prior
knowledge of theory; nevertheless, students who have taken EN 228, Introduction to Literary
Theory, will find that this course expands their understanding of theory in useful and exciting ways.
In addition to writing two short essays, students will pursue their own theoretical interests in a final
research paper, a portion of which they will present to the class.

LEARNING GOALS
Through this course, you will learn to
read a work of literary theory critically, locating and evaluating its major claims
situate a text in relation to major movements and ideas within the history of literary theory
engage the work of other critics and scholars, both in class discussion and in written work
draw upon literary theory to enhance your understanding of specific literary works, periods,
and genres
conduct research in support of a sustained analytical paper
sustain a complex argument about the role of theory in literary studies

TEXTS
The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, second edition (ISBN 978-0393932928)
The Penguin Dictionary of Critical Theory (ISBN 978-0140513691) [recommended, but not required]

GRADE DISTRIBUTION
Participation
Essay One
Essay Two

20%
15%
20%

Bozio // EN 361 Syllabus (Fall 2015)

Research Paper
Presentation

25%
20%

COURSE POLICIES
Attendance
You are allowed two absences with no questions asked. For each subsequent absence, your final
grade will drop one-third of a letter grade, and excessive absences may result in failure of the course.
Repeated lateness will also be construed as absence, so please come to class on time and stay for the
duration.
Participation
Because this course is a collaborative effort, participation will be essential to your success. By
participation, I mean both active listening and thoughtful contributions to class discussion that show
your preparation for class, your willingness to engage your peers in conversation, and your ability to
be respectful. More specifically, good participation might involve:

Asking a specific question or making a specific comment about the reading

Building upon something that another person has already said
Making a specific comment about what you find useful or interesting about another persons
point
Asking a question or making a comment that encourages another person to elaborate on
their point
Making a comment that connects two points or two strands of our conversation
Disagree with what someone has said in a respectful and constructive manner

It helps tremendously to take notes while you are preparing for class, using the writing process to
develop your thoughts about the material. In this course, our aim is not only to learn more about the
nature of literary studies; it is also to develop your skills as a critical thinker and writer, and engaged
participation is one of the most direct ways of ensuring that development. For this reason, I would
also encourage you to take notes during class.
Digital Etiquette
You are encouraged to bring laptops and tablets to class, provided that they are used for referencing
the assigned material and/or for taking notes. To minimize distractions, I would encourage you to
turn off your WI-FI while in class. Failure to adhere to this policy may result in being counted as
absent for the day, and I reserve the right to ban laptops and tablets if they become a distraction to
you or to your classmates. Use of cellphones is not permitted.
Submission of Work
All written work should be presented professionally: typed, double-spaced, in 12-point Times New
Roman or Garamond, and with one-inch margins. Be sure to include your last name and the page

Bozio // EN 361 Syllabus (Fall 2015)

number in the footer. When uploading your file to Blackboard, submit it as a Word Document,
using this format for the title: [Your last name], Essay [One, Two, or Three].docx.
Late essays will lose one-third of a letter grade each day until they are submitted, and, after a week, I
will no longer accept your work.
Academic Integrity
Plagiarism is the representation of another persons words or ideas as your own. It is not only
counter to the ethics of the academic culture in which you participate, but it is also detrimental to
your progress in this course, insofar as it does nothing to develop your own skills as a thinker and a
writer. You must give proper credit, according to your chosen citation guidelines, to all words or
ideas that are not your own. In cases of a serious violation of academic integrity, you will fail the
assignment. Visit http://www.skidmore.edu/advising/integrity/index.php for more information.
Accessibility
Anyone who anticipates difficulties with the content or the format of this course should arrange to
meet with me so we can create a workable plan for your success. Skidmore College also offers
several forms of academic and non-academic accommodation through the Office of Student
Academic Services. Visit http://www.skidmore.edu/accessibility/index.php for more information.

ASSIGNMENTS
Short Essays
Over the course of the semester, you will write two short essays of approximately seven pages in
length. In your first essay, use one or more of the theories that we have studied to frame a
sophisticated argument about either Nabokovs Signs and Symbols or Cuarns Children of Men.
For instance, you might draw upon Althussers theory of the ISA to theorize the specific form of
ideology that suffuses the world of Signs and Symbols. Or, you might use Foucaults History of
Sexuality to ask how Children of Men represents desire in a future where sex is thoroughly separated
from procreation. These ideas are, of course, only prompts to get you thinking, and you should feel
free to take a different approach to the story or to the film. In your second essay, place two theorists
in dialogue with one another. Your argument should either work towards a synthesis of their
different approaches or towards a critique, where you use one theorist to reveal the limitations of the
other. I will circulate more detailed prompts well in advance of the due date of each essay.
Research Paper
To conclude the course, you will write a research paper of approximately twelve pages in length.
Select one of the following theories biopolitics, animal studies, critical race theory, transnational
studies, disability theory, cognitive approaches to literature, or the digital humanities and research
the major figures or claims of that movement. Then, write an essay that introduces an unfamiliar
reader to that theory, demonstrating either what this theory brings to literary studies or how it can
be applied to a particular text. As with the short essays, I will circulate a more detailed prompt well
in advance of the due date of the research paper.

Bozio // EN 361 Syllabus (Fall 2015)

Presentation
In the final days of the course, you will present a portion of your research paper to the class. This
assignment has two purposes. At the same time that it creates a space where you and your peers can
guide the course toward your own theoretical interests, it provides you with the opportunity to
receive helpful feedback on your work in progress. These presentations should last no more than ten
minutes, and you should use that time to introduce your peers to your theory and to show how it
can assist us in literary studies. Half of your presentation grade will be determined by your own
presentation and half by your engagement with the presentations of your peers.

SCHEDULE
Reading that are not available in the required texts can be found on Course Reserves or on
Blackboard, as noted.
Sept.

10

Introduction to the course

15

What is Interpretation?, 2-3; What is Literature?, 4-7

Terry Eagleton, What is Literature?, 1-14 [Course Reserves]
Vladimir Nabokov, Signs and Symbols, 598-603 [Course Reserves]
J. L. Austin, 1286-9; Performative Utterances, 1289-1301
Structuralism and Semiotics, 21-22; Poststructuralism and Deconstruction, 2224

17

22
24
29
Oct.

1
6
8

G. W. F. Hegel, 536-40; excerpts from The Phenomenology of Spirit, 541-7

Marxism, 13-15; Feminism, 24-26; Postcolonial Studies and Race and Ethnicity
Studies, 27-29
Michel Foucault, 1469-74; excerpts from Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison,
1490-502
Michel Foucault; excerpts from The History of Sexuality, Volume I, 1502-21; New
Historicisms, 29-30
Psychoanalysis, 15-17; Jacques Lacan, 1156-62; The Mirror Stage as Formative of
the Function of the I as Revealed in Psychoanalytic Experience, 1163-9
Louis Althusser, 1332-4; excerpts from Ideology and Ideological State
Apparatuses, 1335-61
Gilles Deleuze and Flix Guattari, 1446-50; excerpts from A Thousand Plateaus, 3-25
[Course Reserves]

Essay One due on Monday, October 12 at 5:00 pm

13
15

Jean-Franois Lyotard, 1463-5; Defining the Postmodern, 1465-8; Jean

Baudrillard, 1553-5; excerpts from The Precession of Simulacra, 1556-66
Fredric Jameson, 1818-21; Postmodernism and Consumer Society, 1846-60

Bozio // EN 361 Syllabus (Fall 2015)

20
22

Judith Butler, 2536-8; excerpts from Gender Trouble, 2540-53

Lauren Berlant and Michael Warner, 2597-99; Sex in Public, 2600-17

27

Jack Halberstam, 2635-7; excerpts from In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies,
Subcultural Lives, 1-21 [Course Reserves]
Donna Haraway, 2187-9; A Manifesto for Cyborgs: Science, Technology, and
Socialist Feminism in the 1980s, 2190-220

29
Nov.

3
5

N. Katherine Hayles, 2161-3; excerpts from How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies
in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics, 2165-87
Jane Bennett, excerpts from Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things, vii-xix, 20-38
[Course Reserves]
Ralph Ellison, excerpts from Invisible Man, 3-33 [Course Reserves]

Essay Two due on Monday, November 9 at 5:00 pm

10
12

17

19
24

Dec.

Michel Foucault, excerpts from The History of Sexuality, 135-45 [Course Reserves]
Giorgio Agamben, excerpts from Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life, 1-12, 119125 [Course Reserves]
W.E.B. Du Bois, excerpts from The Souls of Black Folk, 7-14 [Course Reserves]
Paul Gilroy, 2553-5; excerpts from The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double
Consciousness, 2556-75
Andy Clark and David Chalmers, The Extended Mind, 7-19 [Course Reserves]
Evelyn Tribble and John Sutton, Cognitive Ecology as a Framework for
Shakespearean Studies, 94-103 [Course Reserves]
Garrett A. Sullivan, Jr., Subjectivity and the Mind-Body: Extending the Self on the
Renaissance Stage, 67-70 [Course Reserves]
Lennard Davis, excerpts from Bending Over Backwards, 33-46 [Course Reserves]
Tobin Siebers, excerpts from Disability Theory, 1-33 [Blackboard]

26

Matthew Kirschenbaum, What is Digital Humanities and Whats It Doing in

English Departments? [Blackboard]
Matthew Jockers, excerpts from Macroanalysis: Digital Methods and Literary Analysis, 332 [Course Reserves]
Thanksgiving // No Class

1
3

Presentations
Presentations

8
10

Presentations
Presentations // Evaluations

Research Paper due on Monday, December 14 at 5:00 pm

Bozio // EN 361 Syllabus (Fall 2015)