ENGL 423 examines the major contemporary theories of literature and their application in practical criticism.
The twentieth century has seen the development of several theories of literature that have influenced our reading, understanding, and criticism of various genres and of both old and new works. The course looks at the history and nature of the following movements: Formalism, New Criticism, Reader-Response Theory, Structuralism, Psychoanalysis, Poststructuralism, Feminist Poetics, Postmodernism, and Postcolonialism.