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Unit of study_
ENGL3655: The Literary in Theory
2023 unit information
This unit will introduce students to significant movements in modern and contemporary literary theory to think about what it means to speak of the literary. The unit of study begins by examining the question of literariness through its exposition and defence by a number of scholars. We will pursue the applications of their arguments through a selection of theoretical models, including queer and gender theory, psychoanalysis, and race theory, to consider the cultural and ideological work imaginative literature undertakes.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Arts and Social Sciences
| Study level | Undergraduate |
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| Academic unit | English and Writing |
| Credit points | 6 |
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Prerequisites:
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12 credit points at 2000 level in English or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Australian Literature |
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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None |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. Understand the broad traditions of literary theory that have animated the study of literature over the last century, in order to gauge not only the ambit and evolution of the field in general but also to better understand your own theoretical convictions, intuitions, and interests. (Addresses graduate qualities A and F.)
- LO2. Isolate and investigate the theoretical and critical assumptions that you already bring to literature, so your reading of it may become more exactingly theoretical and critical. (Addresses graduate qualities B and E.)
- LO3. Render your understanding of literature more culturally and historically circumspect and thus also more radically self-critical. (Addresses graduate qualities C and F.)
- LO4. Apply the analytical acumen you develop in understanding literary theory and criticism to other fields and kinds of intellectual enquiry. (Addresses graduate qualities B and D.)
Unit availability
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
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