Why Literature? - Einzelansicht

Why Literature?

Is literature still relevant in a period increasingly dominated by images rather than words, by fragmentary tweet-format messages rather than coherent texts, by instantly decipherable standardized icons and emoticons rather than evocations of unique and singular experiences? In this research-oriented seminar we will explore and discuss a sample of diagnoses of the current crisis of literature, but we will also engage with a set of recent theoretical models that attempt to reclaim an unbroken relevance for literature as a cultural praxis. These approaches range from the appreciation of literature as a strictly ‘private’ event with both aesthetic and ethical implications to the construction of literature as intervention into the established arrangement of the social world at large. We will read and analyse extracts from some of the most influential contributions to literary theory today, including texts by Derek Attridge, Pheng Cheah, Rita Felski, Jacques Rancière and Gayatri Spivak, among others.

Participants are expected to engage with theory and must be prepared to read ‘difficult’ texts.

Relevant material will be made available on moddle at the beginning of the semester.

 3 CPs for regular and active participation and a topical essay (5 pages).