SCAND 504 Contemporary Literary Theory

SCAND 504, contemporary literary theory
ENG 599 special studies seminar
C LIT 535, Criticism And Ideology Critique II
In this course, queer theory is treated as a case study for analyzing the practice of critical theory, its manifestations in sub-fields, its ties to art and activism. Readings will be assigned in “clusters,” so that a queer text will be read together with key sources and/or responses that inspire and advance or critique that text’s central claims. Readings will be taken from the fields of literature and literary studies, philosophy, sociology, history, psychoanalysis, feminism, and gay and lesbian studies.
We will also pay attention to the national, cultural, and ethno-racial location of queer theory, contrasting its ‘local’ (US) and normative (white academic) identity with its impacts and differences in other places and from other perspectives. In the unit “Pride and shame in (queer?) Scandinavia,” for example, Scandinavia will be considered as a model for an alternative location for queer theory.