Introduction to Theory of Literature

Professor Fry introduces the core concepts of literary theory, examining its relationship with philosophy, defining literature, and tracing the emergence of modern criticism through the foundational ideas of Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud. This lecture establishes the framework for understanding 20th-century theoretical developments.

This lecture explores the relationship between skepticism and determinism in literary discourse, analyzing how Anton Chekhov's and Henry James' works frame these concepts. It critically examines Foucault's "What Is an Author" and Barthes' "The Death of the Author" within their historical contexts.

Professor Paul Fry examines the theory of hermeneutics, tracing its historical development and exploring the concept of the hermeneutic circle. The lecture analyzes key contributions from Gadamer, Heidegger, and Hirsch, with attention to notions of historicism and historicality.

Professor Paul Fry elaborates on the hermeneutic theories of Gadamer and Hirsch, exploring the distinction between textual meaning and readerly significance. The lecture then analyzes Wolfgang Iser's concept of textual expectation and surprise within the reading process, concluding with a discussion on hermeneutic premises in canon formation.

This lecture traces the historical development of formalist literary criticism, analyzing its foundations in Kantian aesthetics and its articulation by New Critics like Wimsatt and Beardsley, particularly regarding the autonomy of the artwork and permissible interpretive evidence.

Professor Paul Fry delineates the core tenets of the New Criticism, analyzing Wimsatt and Beardsley's interpretive theories alongside the critical methodologies of I. A. Richards, William Empson, and Cleanth Brooks.

Professor Paul Fry delineates the core tenets of Russian Formalism, distinguishing it from hermeneutics and exploring key concepts such as defamiliarization, the function of literary device, and the formalist distinction between plot and story. The lecture analyzes Boris Eikhenbaum's contributions and the movement's methodological aspirations.

This lecture introduces Ferdinand de Saussure's foundational semiotic theory, examining key binaries like langue/parole and signifier/signified. It applies these concepts to everyday examples, contextualizing semiotics within hermeneutics and Russian formalism.

This session delves into Roman Jakobson's linguistic theories, continuing the discussion of synchrony and diachrony. It explores the interplay of formalism, semiotics, and linguistics, including Levi-Strauss's structural analysis of the Oedipus myth.

This lecture introduces Jacques Derrida's critique of structuralism and semiotics, analyzing "Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of Human Sciences" and "Différance." Key concepts such as supplementarity, différance, and the indeterminacy of meaning are explored.

This session extends deconstruction with Paul de Man's work, comparing his 'self-deconstruction' to Derrida's theories. It clarifies the distinction between rhetoric and grammar through de Man's analysis of literary examples.

This lecture explores the influence of Freudian psychoanalytic theory on literary criticism, mediated by Peter Brooks. It traces Freud's pleasure principle and its revision, applying these concepts to narrative structures.

This session introduces Jacques Lacan's psychoanalytic theory, detailing the 'mirror stage' and the relationship between metaphor and metonymy through the 'point de capiton.' It differentiates desire from need in the context of language and the unconscious.

This lecture explicates Harold Bloom's theory of poetic influence, particularly the "anxiety of influence" and the concept of misprision, through a close examination of T.S. Eliot's "Tradition and the Individual Talent" and Bloom's response. It explores the struggle between poets and their literary precursors, drawing connections to Freudian psychoanalysis.

This lecture defines postmodernism and explores the work of Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, and Slavoj Žižek. It elucidates rhizomatic thinking and Žižek's film criticism concerning desire, linking it to Lacanian theory.

This lecture introduces Mikhail Bakhtin's heteroglossia and Hans Robert Jauss's reception theory. It analyzes how social contexts shape language and reader response, using examples from Jane Austen and Borges.

This session examines the Frankfurt School's critical theory through Theodor Adorno and Walter Benjamin. It explores mechanical reproduction, art's relation to labor, and Benjamin's insights on distraction in aesthetic revelation.

This lecture dissects Fredric Jameson's 'The Political Unconscious,' viewing it as a Marxist and structuralist outgrowth. It details Jameson's three interpretive horizons—political, social, historical—and the concept of the 'ideologeme'.

This lecture explores New Historicism through Stephen Greenblatt and Jerome McGann, tracing its origins in Early Modern studies. It compares Greenblatt's Foucauldian approach with McGann's use of Bakhtin, applying these to editing Keats's poetry.

This lecture uses Virginia Woolf's 'A Room of One's Own' to frame twentieth-century feminist criticism. It analyzes Woolf's critiques of female literary identity and the logocentric approach to defining women's language.

This lecture surveys African-American criticism through Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Toni Morrison. It addresses issues of essentialism, identity, and expropriation in cultural studies, contrasting with New Critical assumptions.

This lecture explores post-colonial theory via Edward Said and Homi K. Bhabha, defining terms like ambivalence and hybridity. It connects Bhabha's 'sly civility' to Gates's 'signifyin',' both rooted in semiotics.