The central distinguishing practice of the English discipline – “close reading” – is far from having a stable definition or method. This course explores the ways that literary scholars have developed and applied theories of “close reading” as they define it. We will be reading a lot of theory, examining a series of debates, from the attitude, for example, that the text stands alone, in isolation of its historical moment, to the argument that the text is only understandable from its historical context. We will also study the discipline’s oscillating preference between “surface” and “depth” in interpretive methods. The goal is for students to understand and adopt a more pliable relationship to how we pay close attention to the literary text.
Students who take this course will have previous exposure to theory, having taken at least an introductory survey and would ideally already own the 3rd edition of Norton Anthology of Criticism and Theory.
