# Introduction to Theory of Literature

- Institution: Yale University
- Department: English
- Teacher: Paul H. Fry
- Term: Spring 2009
- Level: Undergraduate
- Language: English
- Subjects: Literature and writing
- Source: [Open Yale Courses](https://oyc.yale.edu/english/engl-300)
- Licence: [CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/) (Non-commercial use only.)
- Syllabus: [at the source](https://oyc.yale.edu/english/engl-300#syllabus)
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (sources give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the source's own words)

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 context that incorporates philosophical and social perspectives on the recurrent questions: what is literature, how is it produced, how can it be understood, and what is its purpose?

## Lectures

1. [Introduction](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/7b2f92489579) (Audio)
2. [Introduction (cont.)](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/2ff06daa5005) (Audio)
3. [Ways In and Out of the Hermeneutic Circle](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/7394dac2ed5e) (Audio)
4. [Configurative Reading](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/303259e356d1) (Audio)
5. [The Idea of the Autonomous Artwork](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/77623790da77) (Audio)
6. [The New Criticism and Other Western Formalisms](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/1ba95faa253c) (Audio)
7. [Russian Formalism](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/f313c2406e32) (Audio)
8. [Semiotics and Structuralism](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/7d7f79704137) (Audio)
9. [Linguistics and Literature](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/e7698dd16502) (Audio)
10. [Deconstruction I](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/ca9ca27945b6) (Audio)
11. [Deconstruction II](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/c1ee2c389f11) (Audio)
12. [Freud and Fiction](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/4fd7b39bcb66) (Audio)
13. [Jacques Lacan in Theory](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/0268c1fa90ae) (Audio)
14. [Influence](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/fb3aebbd212e) (Audio)
15. [The Postmodern Psyche](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/153f3cb9cbd2) (Audio)
16. [The Social Permeability of Reader and Text](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/dfcb29597eea) (Audio)
17. [The Frankfurt School of Critical Theory](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/7e946eb5137d) (Audio)
18. [The Political Unconscious](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/77dda792d06f) (Audio)
19. [The New Historicism](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/60a1b5c853e9) (Audio)
20. [The Classical Feminist Tradition](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/0710f98bcf08) (Audio)
21. [African-American Criticism](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/c4e86fbcfd64) (Audio)
22. [Post-Colonial Criticism](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/c51e2a4a77d3) (Audio)
23. [Queer Theory and Gender Performativity](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/74bcec27d032) (Audio)
24. [The Institutional Construction of Literary Study](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/7988dd968820) (Audio)
25. [The End of Theory?; Neo-Pragmatism](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/920607f84e82) (Audio)
26. [Reflections; Who Doesn't Hate Theory Now?](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/yale/engl-300/afd4b20cc3cd) (Audio)