Termine im WS 2012/13 - Englisches Seminar - Ruhr-Universität ...

ENGLISCHE LITERATUR BIS 1700
_______________________________________
Vorlesungen
050 623 Houwen
The Reinvention of Chaucer: Chaucer and the Critics, 2/2,5 CP
2 st. di 12-14 HGB 10
Description: If there is one medieval author who has invited a wide variety of literarycritical
approaches, it is Chaucer. His works have been the subject of numerous
critical approaches (structuralist, feminist, gender, deconstructionist, new historicist,
and even colonial studies).
Aim: The aim of this course is to consider and evaluate the various approaches to
Chaucer’s works over the years. The lecture series is not concerned with ‘good’ or
‘bad’ criticism, but wants to answer such questions as what critical approach is best
for what sort of research question.
Procedure: We shall take a relatively small selection of Canterbury Tales and
possibly some of the shorter poems and see how “the practice of theory” can result in
different readings of these texts. The emphasis is not on the primary texts but on the
secondary ones.
Assessment: The course will be rounded off with a written exam.
Set text: The required texts will be made available via Blackboard.
050 624 Weidle
Shakespeare and Literary Theory, 2/2,5 CP
2 st. do 10-12 HGB 10
The lecture focuses on theoretical approaches to Shakespeare’s works in the 20th
and 21st century, thereby pursuing two goals: first, to familiarise students with some
of the most important modern literary theories and second, to facilitate and
encourage students in the study and interpretation of the poems and plays. The
theories and approaches discussed will include formalism, structuralism,