Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Synopsis This subject is designed to introduce students to many of the major theories and issues arising in contemporary literary critical theory, from the pioneering work of the founders of structuralism - Ferdinand de Saussure, Charles Sanders Pierce and Claude Levi-Strauss - to recent critiques of structuralism developed by post-structuralists like Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida and Julia Kristeva. It aims to present an overview of leading figures within twentieth century critical theory, and also a discussion of the major issues raised in this work. The subject itself will be divided into three parts: in the first, basic concepts and pioneering theories will be introduced. Here we will examine the work of Saussure, Pierce, formalism and structuralism (Levi-Strauss, Jakobson, Benveniste). In the second part, we will look at developments and refinements of their work, particularly in various analyses of social power: among the figures analysed here are Roland Barthes and his analyses of bourgeois cultural life, Michel Foucault's understanding of writing and the trace. In the third part of the course, we will discuss critiques of structuralism, concentrating particularly on the work of the Derrideans, including a session on Kristeva.
Assessment Two essays (6000 words total): 50% each. Third year students will be expected to present written work that is more analytic and self-reflective than second year students