Michel Rocchi

Wyatt 241

Phone: 3969

email: rocchi@ups.edu

INTRODUCTION TO LITERARY STUDIES: F.L. 300

This course is intended to expose foreign language students to the variety of approaches and styles of contemporary literary criticism and theory. To achieve this, we will explore criticism from eight major paradigms, or large system of thought:

The precritical response

The traditional approaches

The formalistic approach

The psychological approach

The mythological & archetypal approaches

The feminist approaches

Cultural studies

Other approaches (structuralism, reader-response, etc.)

Some approaches will concentrate on structure, rhetoric, imagery, style, complexity, unity, etc. Others will allow us to become aware of mitigating influences: biographical data, social conditions, prevalent ideas, other art forms, cultural heritage and the relative values of all these aspects in judging a literary work. The course will provide basic tools for studying the interrelationship of various literatures: the mutual relations between classical literatures, the debt of modern literature to ancient literatures, the links between various modern trends in literature, and of literature to other areas of knowledge or belief: philosophy, religion, social sciences, fine arts, etc. Finally, the course will examine the ways that contemporary criticism has taught us to critique the practice of literary studies themselves in terms of the ethics of criticism, the profession of teaching, and the formation of literary canons. Although we will study the most fundamental assumptions of the major schools of criticism, we will spend more time applying their assumptions and theories to actual texts from a variety of international literatures and the performance of a stage play.

Course Objectives:

This course is designed to serve as the backbone for upper-level literature classes in the department to expose students to:

1. The metalanguage and the mechanics of literary criticism pertaining to modern languages.

2. The various literary movements, periods, styles, and critical tendencies in the literary history of the specific languages.

3. The challenge to write clearly and to argue well thought-out critical essays based on selected literary topics.

4. The proper format for papers in modern languages, bibliographies, abstracts, and research.

5. The appropriate reference tools, and essential resources available in libraries and on-line for research in the specific languages.

This course fulfills the core requirement for the Fine Arts core curriculum. In this, it endeavors to involve you in critical and analytical approaches to literary studies. It deals with the subject from a sense of literary tradition; it examines the formal aspects of the field; and aims to recognize the overwhelming unity within literature despite the apparent variety.

Theory in this course will not be studied for its own sake, but put to use. My main endeavor is to bring the often abstract and abstruse concerns of literary theory down to the practical of reading, of interpretation, and ultimately of enjoyment.

Some theorists claim that we may not recognize that when we make seemingly elementary observations about a text that we indeed are articulating some established notions of literary theory. Moreover, that these notions represent ideological attitudes. I hope that after this course you will be comfortable enough to examine your assumptions, to view a literary work of art from different perspectives, and to engage in intellectual discourse about works of art with less apprehension, and especially not to loose your appreciation of reading.

To accomplish these aims, I will invite you to consider national and international literature so that the more you read diverse voices, the easier it will be for you:

- To develop a critical perspective,

- To distill the major aspects of a work,

- To think about and express succinctly what you have read,

- To see connections and understand relationships,

- And to hone your skills at discerning similarities and differences.

I hope that the selected texts will highlight in an accessible way the recursive nature of the reading and writing processes while enhancing your awareness of the writers' personal voices and their culture. By stressing the many cultural contexts, I root the reading and writing processes in considerations of race, gender, class, ethnicity, and region.

You may have probably recognized by now that this approach to the course places a responsibility on you. As I will do my best to introduce you to certain critical theories, you will need to think seriously about and struggle with each to come to terms with their full dimension. There is no short cut to personal effort and no better way to learn than to be fully engaged in one's own discovery. So, please come always prepared and with an open mind, and let's have a great semester!

Expectations and Evaluations:

25 % for each of the 4 categories:

1. Class participation: regular attendance, thoughtful listening and interacting, questioning comments, rethinking one's own position, arguing with relevant evidence. Careful reading, meaningful writing in response journals, and outside research are indispensable to the course.

2. Mid-Term Exam, quizzes, short assignments

3. Process Paper

4. Final Paper

Criteria for paper grading Contents. Facts (thesis) and clarity of treatment (explanation.) Research. Lucid and imaginative use of sources. Presentation. Style (personal) and Form (mechanics.) Other factors. Language (spelling, punctuation, etc.) Delays, or unacceptable format.

Books for Purchase:

--A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature; Guerin

--One World of Literature; Geok-Lin Lim

--MLA Handbook

--Other material correlated with theater or artistic performances.

Conferences:

I urge you to discuss and explore with me any strengths, weaknesses, personal interests, or problem areas relating to the course as early as possible in the semester. You may do so by coming to my office hours, calling me, or sending me an email.

A tentative course plan will be distributed as soon as the remaining reading selections are finalized, and the course artistic performance is selected.