Introduction to literary studies 15-WL-11
The goal of the lecture is to introduce undergraduate students to the scholarly study of literature. During our discussions we will try to define basic concepts and terms concerning the work of literature and consider useful tools for its analysis. The main subject of our inquiry will be the specific nature of a literary work, compositional and stylistic elements of literary genres, as well as dominant interpretational methods used in the analysis of literary forms. The lecture will facilitate students’ critical engagement with literature, enhance their appreciation of literary language and prepare the ground for a more theoretically informed interpretation of literary texts.
The main questions posed in the discussions include the following:
1) What is literature?: The specific characteristics of a literary work vis-a-vis other types of discourses
2) The concept of a literary work and the main elements of its structure and meaning (composition, plot, character, time, setting, language, narrative perspectives and techniques, persona, lyrical I, etc.)
3) Literary types and genres (epic, lyric, drama); genre-specific terms and methods
4) Basic types of literary analysis (the world-author-reader-work; theory, history and criticism)
5) Interpretation and the role of the reader
The detailed syllabus will cover the following content:
1) What is literature? The specificity of literature, major schools of literary criticism
2) Mimesis according to Plato and Aristotle; the poetics and theory of tragedy according to Aristotle
3) Narratology: The plot and narrative structure
4) Narratology: The character: typologies and functions.
5) Narratology: The narrator and point of view
6) Russiam Formalism, literary tropes: simile, metaphor, metonymy, synechdoche, hyperbole, symbol, allegory
7) Time and space in literature: chronotope according to Mikhail Bahktin
8) Literary genres: Poetry, prosody, poetic genres, imagery in poetry, mood and tone
9) Literary genres: theories of intertextuality and influence (Gerard Genette, Julia Kristeva, Roland Barthes, Michael Riffaterre, Harold Bloom)
10) Literary genres: drama: major genres (tragedy, comedy, tragicomedy); performance
11) Hybrid genres: intermediality in literature: poetic ekphrasis, concrete poetry, graphic novel
12) New phenomena in literature: digital literature
13) Theories of reader-response: the role of the reader in the work of literature
Module learning aims
Information on where to find course materials
Major
Methods of teaching for learning outcomes achievement
Student workload (ECTS credits)
Cycle of studies
Module type
Pre-requisites in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
After successful completion of the course, the student has the following skills, competences and knowledge:
1: Student is equipped with the essential knowledge about the analysis of literary texts and recognizes the uniqueness of literary discourse in relation to other discourses K_W02; K_W03; K_W04; K_W05; K_W10
2. Student is able to analyse and interpret literary texts using critical terms K_U04; K_U05; K_U06; K_U04; K_U10
3. Student can read with comprehension texts of literary criticism K_U09; K_U10
4. Student is able to use critical terminology in an analysis of literature K_U04; K_U10
5. Student is capable of proposing his own interpretation of texts and take part in discussion and evaluation of literature K_U05; K_U06
6. Student can properly and creatively use literary criticism in English K_U02;
7. Student recognizes literary genres and uses basic terminology related to literary studies K_W6; K_U09,
8. Student is able to develop his research skills related to literary studies K_U05; K_U10
9. Student is curious of the world and open towards other literatures and cultures.
K_K04; K_K10
Assessment criteria
Evaluation Methods:
Summative:
End-of-term test based on the material of the lecture consisting of open and closed questions
Grading criteria:
excellent (5.0): excellent knowledge and analytical as well as critical skills
very good (4,5): very good knowledge and analytical as well as critical skills
good (4.0): good knowledge and analytical as well as critical skills
satisfactory (3.5): satisfactory knowledge and analytical as well as critical skills
poor (3.0): poor knowledge and analytical as well as critical skills
unsatisfactory (2.0): inadequate knowledge and analytical as well as critical skiofil
Bibliography
Bal, Mieke. Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative. London: University of Toronto Press, 1997.
Alison Booth, et al. (eds). The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th ed. W.W. Norton, 2010.
Burzyńska A., Markowski M.P. Teorie literatury XX wieku, Antologia, Kraków 2006.
Burzyńska A., Markowski M.P. Teorie literatury XX wieku, Podręcznik, Kraków. 2006.
Culler, Jonathan. 2000. Literary Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Cuddon. J.A. 2000. Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory, 4th ed. New York: Penguin.
Ferguson, Margaret, Mary Jo Salter and Jon Stallworthy, eds. The Norton Anthology of Poetry, 5th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2005.
Klarer, Mario. 2004. (the fourth expanded edition.)An Introduction to Literary Studies. London and New York: Routledge.
Vincent B. Leitch (ed.) The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. New York: Norton, 2001.
Preminger, Alex, and T. V. F. Brogan (eds). The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1993.
Lodge, David. The Art of Fiction: Illustrated from Classic and Modern Texts.Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1992.
Dukore, Bernard, (ed). Dramatic Theory and Criticism: Greeks to Grotowski. New York: Holt, Rinehart, 1974.
Meisel, Martin. How Plays Work: Reading and Performance. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: