Narrative Theory
ENGL 303
Spring 2011
| Section:
01
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| Certificates: Social, Cultural and Critical Theory |
Narrative, one great critic suggests, may be the central function of the human mind. It is, as another once wrote, "simply there, like life itself." As these claims indicate, the study of narrative is the study of some of the most fundamental aspects of our collective life. This course provides an introduction to the tradition of narrative theory through a sustained engagement with three core narrative-theoretical concepts: structure, text, and time. A single book will anchor and orient each of the course's units: for structure, Vladimir Propp's Morphology of the Folktale; for text, Roland Barthes' S/Z; for time, Gérard Genette's Narrative Discourse. Herman Melville's novella Benito Cereno will supply our "control text": a narrative to which we will return as we study the theory, and through which we will test the powers and the limits, both analytical and historical, of our theorists. In each of our units, we will begin with a careful reading of our main theorist, move on to consider work that elaborates on the theory, and then turn to robust approaches-- Marxist, historicist, queer, sociological--that challenge or modify the theoretical terms with which we started. |
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Essential Capabilities:
Interpretation, Writing
Students will develop skills of close interpretation of narrative form -- including ways of reading that point far beyond "the text itself" to sociological and historical questions -- and will express these skills through intensive writing assignments.
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA ENGL |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (CSCT)(ENGL) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Readings may include:
Vladimir Propp, Morphology of the Folktale (U of Texas P)
Aristotle, Poetics (Hill and Wang)
M.M. Bakhtin, The Dialogic Imagination (U of Texas P)
Roland Barthes, S/Z (Hill and Wang)
D.A. Miller, Bringing Out Roland Barthes (U of California P)
Gérard Genette, Narrative Discourse (Cornell UP)
Herman Melville, Billy Budd and Other Stories (Penguin)
Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan, Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics (Routledge
And shorter pieces by a number of critics and literary theorists.
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Examinations and Assignments:
Two essays (5-7pp. and 12-15pp.); four reading-response exercises (3pp.). Students will pair up to lead discussion for one session. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This course meets the Theory requirement for the English major. |
| Instructor(s): Garrett,Matthew Carl Times: ..T.... 01:10PM-04:00PM; Location: CRT285; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 19 | | SR major: 5 | JR major: 8 | | |
| Seats Available: 1 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 2 | JR non-major: 2 | SO: 2 | FR: 0 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 7 | 1st Ranked: 2 | 2nd Ranked: 1 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 4 |
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