Topics in Criticism and Theory

Harvard FAS

This course surveys major works in literary theory and criticism from the high watermark of ‘French Theory’ as it crossed the Atlantic in the 1970s up to the present. Our goal will be twofold: firstly, to grapple with these arguments and methodologies on their own terms and gauge their impact on literary study, with students encouraged to draw on examples from their respective fields. Secondly, to historicize our own reception of ‘theory,’ assessing its present place…