The Social Permeability of Reader and Text
LECTURE DESCRIPTION
Overview:
In this first lecture on the theory of literature in social contexts, Professor Paul Fry examines the work of Mikhail Bakhtin and Hans Robert Jauss. The relation of their writing to formalist theory and the work of Barthes and Foucault is articulated. The dimensions of Bakhtin's heteroglossia, along with the idea of common language, are explored in detail through a close reading of the first sentence of Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice. Jauss's study of the history of reception is explicated with reference to Borges's "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote" and the Broadway revival of Damn Yankees.
Reading assignment:
Jauss, Hans Robert. "Literary History as a Challenge to Literary Theory." In The Critical Tradition, pp. 981-88
Bakhtin, Mikhail. "Heteroglossia in the Novel." In The Critical Tradition, pp. 588-93
Course Description
In this course, Prof. Paul H. Fry gives 26 video lectures on Theory of Literature. This is a survey of the main trends in twentieth-century literary theory. Lectures will provide background for the readings and explicate them where appropriate, while attempting to develop a coherent overall conte... (read more)
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