for a while now — essentially since I first read the book — I have thought that the questions/themes that structure Daniel Heath Justice’s Why Indigenous Literatures Matter (Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2018) would be an interesting way to structure any literature course, whether or not it deals directly with Indigenous literatures. I finally sat down to sketch out what an introductory theory course organized along these lines might look like, and I’m pleased with the result.
this hypothetical syllabus assumes a fourteen-week semester with one class per week (and one text per class), divided into two-week sections. Rather than presenting a standard, chronological “introduction to literary theory”, the course takes Justice’s chapter titles as its starting point:
these are preceded by a two-week “introduction” and followed by a two-week “conclusion”. assigned readings consist of a mix of canonical works of twentieth-century literary theory, significant but not necessarily canonical texts by prominent twentieth-century theorists, and contemporary theoretical texts that resonate with the key questions. if I were teaching this as a course the syllabus would also include a list of recommended additional readings for each course section, identified by the “theoretical school” (quote-unquote) to which they belong.
there are some conspicuous absences from this list (psychoanalysis is probably the most significant one in terms of canonical theory), but I stand by my selection as a starting point for further engagement with theory both past and present. (it’s certainly much less idiosyncratic than my own introduction to the field.) I also will again mention that, for those looking to take their first steps into twentieth-century literary theory, Jonathan Culler’s Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction is a useful starting point.
(back: prìomh-dhuilleag · main page · clàran-leughaidh · syllabi)