This course will provide an exposure to the main discourses and practices of theory understood both as literary and cultural theory. We will start with early formulations of the problem of interpretation with Plato and Aristotle, then move on to classical, modern and contemporary approaches. We will study systematically the main tenets and concepts of as Formalism, Structuralism, Post-structuralism, Psychoanalysis, Marxism, Feminism and Deconstruction. We will later engage with Post-colonial studies, Cultural Studies and Queer Theory.  We will use the Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism (2001).
Requirements: One oral report and two short papers (10 pages). No final exam.