127010 KO Critical Readings in Literature (2020S)

In this course, we will discuss British fiction across the centuries and focus on literary genres ‘as social institutions’, a metaphor developed by genre theorist David Fishelov and drawn from René Welleck and Austin Warren’s Theory of Literature: “one can work through, express oneself through, existing institutions, create new ones, or get on, so far as possible, without sharing in politics or rituals; one can also join, but then reshape institutions”. By examining several key texts of different genres of fiction, we will look at generic conventions not as “fixed procedures imposed by impersonal tradition”, but as “constitutive and enabling” as Paul Alpers phrases it, that is to say, as providing flexibility to both preserve and transform aspects of the genre. Like social institutions, genres are not static and inflexible, but rather survive through the constant reshaping of their conventions by individuals – and this is what we will examine together by analysing texts belonging to various types of British fiction, whether it is Elizabethan theatre, science-fiction, political drama, Romantic poetry, Gothic fiction, farcical comedy, or detective fiction.

This course builds on the knowledge students gained in the introductory lectures. Participants taking this course should be familiar with the basics of literary analysis (narrative techniques, genre, point of view, etc.). The course will enable participants to develop their practical skills in the critical analysis and interpretation of literary texts (drama, poetry and narrative fiction), and to deepen their knowledge of concepts and terminology necessary to the study of literary texts.