20th Century Literary Criticism and Theory-I

This course- 20th Century Literary Criticism and Theory I- aims at acquainting UG and PG students with Modern Literary Criticism and Theory as it developed in the 20th century. Literary criticism which used to be author-centric until the 19th century becomes text-centric in the 20th century and the form of literature becomes more important with special focus on the analysis of style and use of language. Thus, emerge formalistic approaches to literature in form of movements, isms, or schools of criticism/theory, instead of being individual-centric and insular in nature. New Criticism, Russian Formalism, Chicago School of Criticism, Structuralism, Poststructuralism and Reader Response Criticism are the movements which originated and flourished in the twentieth century and may be seen as formulating parameters of creative and critical thinking in literary studies which are more appropriately called theories in the post-World War II era. It also takes into account theories of language and sign such as Semiotics and Speech Act Theory. So, it also seeks to look at the nuanced distinction between criticism and theory which are often used interchangeably. Along with providing an overarching view of these movements, the course also delves deep into important essays and concepts written and coined by the chief exponents of these movements.