E 791A: THEORIZING THE DISCIPLINE


Schedule

 

This syllabus is subject to change. The latest version on this website is the binding syllabus.

Office: Bartlett 259
Office Hours: Wed and by appointment.
545-6598 | sharris@english.umass.edu

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15

W 1:00pm - 3:30pm

WEEK 6: Marxism
8 October


Today, we consider various essays in the Eagleton collection. At issue is the literary application of Marxist theory on a practical level. How might we apply it to Beowulf, for example. What are the shortcomings of such an application. What epistemological assumptions are self-styled Marxist critics making about social and economic forces as they relate to fiction and literary production? How do these relate to the material aspects of book production and dissemination? How do these relate to Hegelian notions of knowledge and spirit? What is spirit? Can we find it in a text? What is an episteme? What role does an author have as a filter or function of society? What role does a critic have?

 

READ

Marxist Literary Theory as follows:

    1. Marx, "Poetry of the Future"; Engels, "On Realism"

    2. Trotsky, "The Formalist School of Poetry and Marxism"

    3. Benjamin, "Addendum to 'The Paris of the Second Empire'"

    4. Brecht, "A Short Organum for the Theatre"

    5. Lukacs, "The Ideology of Modernism"

    6. Adorno, "Commitment"

    7. Williams, "Tragedy and Revolution" and "Literature"

    8. Althusser, "A Letter on Art"

    9. Jameson, "On Interpretation"