- Winter 2021
Syllabus Description:
INTRODUCTION TO THEORY AND CRITICISM
T-Th: 8:30 – 10:20 am -- Remote: https://washington.zoom.us/j/93295694175
Instructor: Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen
Office hours (remote): Fri 8:30 – 10:00 am. Please send instructor an email beforehand to receive an individual invitation to join the meeting.
Email: mbj@uw.edu
Description: This course offers a survey of some of the major texts in the history of critical theory in the West. No prior knowledge of theory is required but be prepared to read challenging texts at a fast pace. Each session focuses on one important author or theme relevant to the study of literature and the arts. We will start with the Ancients (Plato, Aristotle, Longinus), meander through French 17th century critics, 18thcentury theories of genius, taste and the sublime, Romantic irony, and tackle the great modern philosophers: Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche. Emphasis will be placed toward the end on 20th century structuralism and post-structuralism: Saussure, Jakobson, Barthes, Derrida.
Readings: Excerpts from Hazard Adams, ed., Critical Theory Since Plato (in course pack available at UW Book Store)
Assignments: One midterm exam and one final.
Schedule of meetings and readings:
T Jan 5: General introduction
Th Jan 7: Enthusiasm: Plato, Ion
T Jan 12: Mimesis: Plato, Republic
Th Jan 14: Mimesis and Catharsis: Aristotle
T Jan 19: Rules: Aristotle, Classicism
Th Jan 21: Beauty: Plotinus
T Jan 26: The Sublime: Longinus
Th Jan 28: Genius: Young
T Feb 2: Genius: Diderot
Th Feb 4: Aesthetics: Burke
T Feb 9: Aesthetics: Kant
Th Feb 11: Review
T Feb 16: Mid-term exam (remote)
Th Feb 18: Irony: Schlegel
T Feb 23: Dialectic: Hegel
Th Feb 25: Apollonian/Dionysiac: Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy
T Mar 2: The Unconscious: Freud, Jung
Th Mar 4: Structure, Sign, Text: Saussure, Jakobson
T Mar 9: Structure, Sign, Text: Barthes, Derrida
Th Mar 11: General review
T Mar 16, 10:30 – 12:20 am: Final exam (remote)