Department of English

Literary studies continues to be reconfigured by a variety of theoretical and methodological developments.  Various forms of post-structuralist enquiry (broadly understood as the often confrontational dialogues between theoretical and political positions as varied as Deconstruction, New Historicism, Cultural Materialism, Feminism, Queer Theory, Minority Discourse Theory, Colonial and Post-colonial Studies and Cultural Studies) have altered disciplinary agendas and intellectual priorities for students embarked on the professional study of literature.  In this course we will study key texts, statements and debates that define these issues, and ask what it means to read in depth, on the surface, or somewhere in-between.