(BA) (4-year-programme) - The University of Hong Kong

88FOUNDATIONAL COURSES IN THE SECOND YEARCLIT2001.Comparative studies of literary and visual narratives (6 credits)This course will primarily investigate western critical concepts and theories that have informed thestudy of narratives. It will introduce students to a variety of narrative forms found in literature, film,and popular texts from different times and cultures. We will examine some of the ways in whichcritics and theorists interpret the aesthetic, psychological, and philosophical aspects of narrative.The course is divided into three sections: the mechanics of narrative, forms and intertextuality, anddifferent critical approaches to the study of narrative. Through these three modules, we will chart theearlier moment of structuralism and how it was challenged by poststructuralist and postmodernistapproaches to narrative study, culminating in the recent phase of the cultural turn. Topics to beexplored include story and discourse, narrative time and space, the social functions of narrative texts,the relationship of ideology and narrative form, and the circulation of cultures.Note: This is a compulsory foundational course for those who want to major in ComparativeLiterature. Students should take it in their second year. Students who have not declared major inComparative Literature will only be admitted if the class quota allows.Prerequisite: CLIT1008 or CLIT1009 or CLIT1010.Assessment: 100% coursework.CLIT2094.Introduction to critical theory and cultural studies (6 credits)This introductory course examines some of the foundational texts, concepts, “-isms,” and argumentswithin the fields of critical theory and cultural studies. It is not an advanced course but a foundationalsurvey primarily intended for beginning majors. It prepares students for further work in literary,cultural, and theoretical studies by scrutinizing several foundational concepts and areas of theory.Some primary texts (extracts) will be read. But the bulk of the readings will be from standard guidesand introductions to the fields. These may be supplemented by select literary, visual, or other textswhich illuminate particular theories, concepts, or types of interpretation.The rise of post-structuralism (or “postmodernism”) will be partially covered but is not the basis ofthe course. Alternative traditions and ideas within the long, rich history of critical theory will beaddressed. These can range from ancient and early modern reflections on culture and literature, forexample, to dialectical and Marxist notions of ideology and power as well as post-colonial andfeminist critiques of history and patriarchy. The final part of the class will also deal with the interdisciplinaryfield of “cultural studies” in so far as it can be understood as a way to “apply” theory, onthe one hand, or on the other as a way to rebuke the abstract and non-contextual pursuit of theory forits own sake.Note:This is a compulsory foundational course for those who want to major in ComparativeLiterature. Students should take it in their second year. Students who have not declared majorin Comparative Literature will only be admitted if the class quota allows.Prerequisite: CLIT1008 or CLIT1009 or CLIT1010.Assessment: 100% coursework.ADVANCED COURSES FOR THE SUBSEQUENT YEARSCLIT2003.Modern drama in comparative perspective (6 credits)This course examines the development of modern drama from the late 19th century to the postwarperiod, in a comparative perspective which includes modern dramatic texts from European as well asChinese contexts. While taking a textual approach to some significant dramatic works, the course willcontextualize them within the larger background of intellectual history, examining concepts likeindividualism, modernism and postmodernism. Dramatic texts will also be related to theories such as