Comparative literature, cultural studies and critical theory
Subjects under this heading are taught by the Centre for Comparative
Literature and Cultural Studies or are taught by other departments and made
available to students under a centre code. The centre is an interdepartmental
and interdisciplinary teaching unit, maintained by the Faculty of Arts, with
responsibility for teaching and research in three main areas of work:
comparative literature, cultural studies and critical theory.
Comparative literature is the study of literature in ways which go
beyond particular national or linguistic boundaries. In practice, comparative
literary studies are of two main kinds: substantive studies of the literature
of two or more languages or literary cultures; and generalising studies of the
literary process itself, for example literary history, the sociology of
literature or psychological approaches to literature. Texts studied in the
centre at undergraduate level are all taught in English or in English
translation, but knowing a language other than English is helpful, and those
students with no exposure to one are strongly encouraged to pick up the study
of a language.
Cultural studies is the study of cultural texts, spaces and practices,
including texts that are not normally included in the canon of high literature
(the texts of popular fiction, television or cinema, for example). These
aspects of culture are studied in relation to the various social, historical
and other contexts within which cultures manifest themselves.
Critical theory is a term which has come to signify a number of
contemporary approaches to textual and cultural criticism, for example,
hermeneutics, structuralism, semiotics, poststructuralism, theories of
ideology, psychoanalytic theory, and so on. Such theories have also been
central to, for instance, recent work in anthropology, philosophy, English,
performance studies and film studies.
Students enrolled in sequences offered by the centre may combine courses from
any of these areas.
The Centre for Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies aims to
develop in students a cumulative knowledge of three interconnected areas of
work: comparative literature, cultural studies and critical theory. All three
extend and develop students' appreciation of the nature of texts, culture and
society. The distinctiveness of the literary part of the program consists in
the way students are encouraged to analyse literature as an international
rather than a national phenomenon, and also as one aspect of wider cultural
practices and issues. The stress on comparative `world' literature is unique to
Monash (no other Australian university teaches a full major sequence in
comparative literature). The connection between literary and cultural studies
is also distinctive (many cultural studies programs define themselves against
literature). The centre is also particularly strong in the area of critical
theory and offers sophisticated and contemporary methodological approaches
which are of use to students over a wide range of disciplines.
The completion of a major sequence in this program should enable students to:
- develop skills in reading and interpretation to a point where they can
analyse quite demanding texts and practices in a variety of genres and, where
relevant, in languages other than English;
- come to understand, feel comfortable using and be able to reflect upon
the analytical skills, theoretical vocabularies and conceptual apparatuses
studied in the various subjects they undertake;
- establish and assess criteria by which to judge current and past
intellectual fashions on their basis for generating enduring contributions to
the `human sciences' and arts;
- develop a sense of their own personal and cultural reflexivity as they
observe and interpret the linguistic and cultural forms and practices analysed
in the various subjects they undertake;
- gain confidence and skills in the oral and written presentation of their
thought
- become critically aware of their role as consumers and producers of
culture and meaning in contemporary society.
The centre has close connections with a number of other teaching progams
in the Faculty of Arts, all of which are concerned in one way or another with
the study of texts and textuality. They are film and TV studies, drama and
theatre studies, English literature and fiction writing.
- Film and TV studies are taught by the Department of Visual Arts.
- Drama and theatre studies is taught at Clayton by the Centre for Drama
and Theatre Studies. See drama entry for details.
- English literature is taught in the English department on the Caulfield,
Clayton and Peninsula campuses. See English entry for details.
- Fiction writing is taught at the Peninsula campus in the Department of
English.
It is possible to take a double major in any two of comparative
literature and cultural studies, drama and theatre studies, and English
literature. A major in any one of these may be combined with a minor sequence
in any other.
Combined or double honours may also be taken in any two of comparative
literature and cultural studies, drama and theatre studies, and English
literature.
The Faculty of Arts teaches programs in some closely interconnected
areas concerned in one way or another with the study of texts and textuality.
These include comparative literature, critical theory, cultural studies, drama
and theatre studies, English literature and fiction writing.
- Comparative literature, cultural studies and critical theory are taught
on the Clayton and Berwick campuses. Subjects in this area are taught in part
by the Centre for Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, but also include
subjects cross-listed from many othr departments, including film and television
studies which are taught by the Visual Arts department.
- Drama and theatre studies is taught at Clayton in the Centre for Drama
and Theatre Studies, as part of the Bachelor of Arts program and also as part
of the Bachelor of Performing Arts program. A number of subjects are shared
between English and Drama and Theatre Studies.
- English literature is taught in the English Department on the Caulfield,
Clayton and Peninsula campuses. Under the heading `English literature' are
included subjects looking at American literature, children's literature, Middle
and Old English, publishing, women's writing, and others.
- Fiction writing is taught only at the Peninsula campus in the Department
of English.
For details consult the entries under Comparative
literature, cultural studies and critical theory; Drama and theatre studies;
English; Film and television studies.
In many cases more than one of these programs can be taken together (eg
a double major in English and Drama and Theatre Studies is a possible and
useful combination), but the Faculty does limit the overall number of closely
related subjects that may be legitimately combined in one degree.
A first-year sequence in the centre consists of either (a)
CLS1010 (or ENH1111) and CLS1020 (or ENH1122), or (b) CLS1040 and
CLS1050.
A minor sequence consists of either (a) a first-year sequence as
described above or an appropriate first-year sequence in French or
German studies, followed by two second-year level eight-point subjects (ie ones
with a CLS code); or (b) two second-year level subjects in the centre
followed by third-year level subjects in the centre totalling at least twelve
points.
A major sequence consists of (a) a first-year sequence as described
above, or an appropriate first-year sequence in French or German
studies, plus (b) a minimum of two second-year level eight-point
subjects in the centre (ie ones with a CLS code), plus (c) third-year
level courses in the centre totalling a minimum of twenty-four points.
Coordinator: Chris Worth
An honours course in the centre can have an emphasis on comparative literature,
cultural studies or critical theory. The honours sequence consists of CLS4080
and CLS4000, and further fourth-year level subjects in the centre (ie ones with
a CLS code) with a combined value of forty-eight points. Mid-year entry is
offered by the centre. Students writing fourth-year theses in comparative
literature are normally required to consider literary texts in their original
languages.
Departments may grant an extension of time for submission of the honours thesis
or for final coursework up to the last day of the examination period of the
semester in which the work is due. Applications for extensions beyond this date
must be made to the Committee for Undergraduate Studies.
Combined honours may be taken in comparative literature and cultural
studies (a title which includes critical theory) and another discipline
provided that all honours requirements have been met in both disciplines and
subject to the approval of the heads of both departments/centres.
The centre awards the Douglas Muecke Prize annually for the best thesis
submitted within the centre.
The centre offers an MA program by research and coursework in cultural
studies and critical theory. It offers opportunities for doing research for a
PhD (or, exceptionally, an MA by research) in many areas of comparative
literature, cultural studies and critical theory. For further information
students should consult the Arts graduate handbook for 1998.
- CLS1010 Text and context I
- CLS1020 Text and context II
- CLS1040 Introduction to cultural studies I
- CLS1050 Introduction to cultural studies II
- CLS2000 Introduction to critical theory
- CLS2020 Rethinking bodies
- CLS2030 Reading Freud and Jung
- CLS2040 Image and appearance: advertising, popular culture and the
construction of values (proposed to be offered next in 1999)
- CLS2050 Narrative practices
- CLS2060 Freudian fable (proposed to be offered next in 1999)
- CLS2070 Popular fiction and popular culture
- CLS2080 Science fiction: from monsters to cyborgs (proposed to be offered
next in 1999)
- CLS2090 Comparative literary criticism
- CLS2120 Language, truth and power
- CLS2130 Culture and society: introduction to cultural theory
- CLS2140 Cultural Studies and its figures of knowing
- CLS2160 Chinese literature and modernity
- CLS2190 Forms of narrative cinema
- CLS2230 Greek-Australian writing (proposed to be offered next in 1999)
- CLS2260 Sexing the text: constructions of female sexuality
- CLS2410 Women in Roman society
- CLS2420 Literature and Phenomenology: De Sade, Dostoevsky, Nietzsche,
Tolstoy
- CLS2510 Wit and humour in literature, film and cartoon
- CLS2530 Modernism in European literature
- CLS2550 Romanticism and revolution (proposed to be offered next in1999)
- CLS2610 Roman life and literature
- CLS2660 Here and there: the literature of travel
- CLS2710 Alternatives in documentary film: an Australian focus
- CLS2770 Television studies
- CLS2790 Postmodernism and the novel
- CLS2800 In other worlds: post-colonial fiction
- CLS2810 Comparative drama of the twentieth century
- CLS2860 Music and philosophy
- CLS2910 The novel in Eastern Europe (proposed to be offered next in 1999)
- CLS2950 Freud and feminism
- CLS2970 Autobiographical discourse: Roland Barthes (proposed to be
offered next in 1999)
- CLS3000 Introduction to critical theory
- CLS3007 Gender and genre: masculinity in film (proposed to be offered
next in 1999)
- CLS3010 Sexed media, media-ted sex (proposed to be offered next in 1999)
- CLS3020 Rethinking bodies
- CLS3030 Reading Freud and Jung
- CLS3040 Image and appearance: advertising, popular culture and the
construction of values (proposed to be offered next in 1999)
- CLS3050 Narrative practices
- CLS3060 Freudian fable (proposed to be offered next in 1999)
- CLS3070 Popular fiction and popular culture
- CLS3080 Science fiction: from monsters to cyborgs (proposed to be offered
next in 1999)
- CLS3090 Comparative literary criticism
- CLS3110 Cultural studies: the consumer society (proposed to be offered
next in 1999)
- CLS3120 Gender, race and empire: feminist readings
- CLS3130 Culture and society: introduction to cultural theory
- CLS3140 Cultural Studies and its figures of knowing
- CLS3150 Belief and perception
- CLS3160 Chinese literature and modernity
- CLS3190 Forms of narrative cinema
- CLS3220 Literature and society in Indonesia (proposed to be offered next
in 1999)
- CLS3230 Greek-Australian writing (proposed to be offered next in 1999)
- CLS3250 Marxist critical theory (proposed to be offered next in 1999)
- CLS3260 Sexing the text: constructions of female sexuality
- CLS3310 Gender and its representation in Indonesian societies (proposed
to be offered next in 1999)
- CLS3360 Indonesian theatrical traditions (proposed to be offered next in
1999)
- CLS3410 Women in Roman society
- CLS3420 Literature and Phenomenology: De Sade, Dostoevsky, Nietzsche,
Tolstoy
- CLS3510 Wit and humour in literature, film and cartoon
- CLS3520 Filming the Nation: the recent past in European cinema
- CLS3530 Modernism in European literature (proposed to be offered next in
1999)
- CLS3550 Romanticism and revolution (proposed to be offered next in 1999)
- CLS3610 Roman life and literature
- CLS3660 Here and there: the literature of travel
- CLS3710 Alternatives in documentary film: an Australian focus
- CLS3750 Deconstruction and feminism (proposed to be offered next in 1999)
- CLS3770 Television studies
- CLS3780 Women's writing in Latin America today
- CLS3790 Postmodernism and the novel
- CLS3800 In other worlds: post-colonial fiction
- CLS3810 Comparative drama of the twentieth century
- CLS3830 Bakhtin and Ethics: beyond structuralism
- CLS3860 Music and philosophy
- CLS3870 Prefacing: from Kant to Derrida
- CLS3880 Modern and postmodern subjects
- CLS3910 The novel in Eastern Europe (proposed to be offered next in 1999)
- CLS3930 Rhetoric (proposed to be offered next in 1999)
- CLS3950 Freud and feminism
- CLS3960 Contemporary issues in feminist theory
- CLS3970 Autobiographical discourse: Roland Barthes (proposed to be
offered next in 1999)
- CLS4000 Literary theory
- CLS4010 Recognitions
- CLS4030 Poetics
- CLS4040 Film theory and film criticism I
- CLS4050 Film theory and film criticism II (proposed to be offered next in
1999)
- CLS4070 Lacan and subjectivity
- CLS4080 Minor thesis
- CLS4085 Theory of art history and criticism
- CLS4090 Adorno: philosophy in a no-man's-land (proposed to be offered
next in 1999)
- CLS4100 Deleuze and Foucault
- CLS4155 Belief and perception
- CLS4190 Legal fictions: intersections between law and literature
(proposed to be offered next in 1999)
- CLS4200 Structuralism and semiotics
- CLS4220 The utopian tradition in European literature (proposed to be
offered next in 1999)
- CLS4225 Hermeneutics (proposed to be offered next in 1999)
- CLS4250 Marxist critical theory (proposed to be offered next in 1999)
- CLS4270 Cultural theory and visuality
- CLS4310 Theories of discourse
- CLS4750 Deconstruction and feminism(proposed to be offered next in 1999)
- CLS4835 Bakhtin and ethics: beyond structuralism
- CLS4870 Prefacing: from Kant to Derrida
- CLS4880 Modern and postmodern subjects
- CLS4930 Rhetoric (proposed to be offered next in 1999)
- CLS4965 Contemporary issues in feminist theory
- CRT4000 Literary theory
- CRT4010 Recognitions
- CRT4030 Poetics
- CRT4070 Lacan and subjectivity
- CRT4080 Research project
- CRT4085 Theory of art history and criticism
- CRT4090 Adorno: philosophy in a no-man's-land (proposed to be offered
next in 1999)
- CRT4100 Deleuze and Foucault
- CRT4200 Structuralism and semiotics
- CRT4225 Hermeneutics (proposed to be offered next in 1999)
- CRT4250 Marxist critical theory (proposed to be offered next in 1999)
- CRT4270 Cultural theory and visuality
- CRT4750 Deconstruction and feminism (proposed to be offered next in 1999)
- CRT4870 Prefacing: from Kant to Derrida
- CRT4930 Rhetoric (proposed to be offered next in 1999)
- CRT4965 Contemporary issues in feminist theory