Contemporary Literary Theory

Presentation of modern trends in literary studies, indicating the development of the literary system.
To acquire the terminology of literary theory.
Develop critical reading of literary texts.

The course is also related to other humanities subjects in the chosen program, especially the Methodology of literary research.

The lectures will focus on an introduction to contemporary trends in literary theory and literary history, including the connections between the two branches of literary studies and other disciplines such as history, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, and media studies. It is thus an approach that understands literary discourse and literary studies as part of a broader social discourse.

The following schools and orientations of literary theory are highlighted:
- Postmodernism (Jean-François Lyotard, Jean Baudrillard, Fredric Jameson, Michel Foucault).
- New historicism (Stephen Greenblatt, Catherine Gallagher)
- Postcolonial theories (Frantz Fanon, Edward Said, Homi Bhabha, Gayatri Spivak)
- Feminist theories (including ecofeminist critique) (Virginia Woolf and Simone de Beauvoir - as introduction, Elaine Showalter, Julia Kristeva, Judith Butler, Cheryll Glotfelty, Greta Gaard) and broader gender theories (Judith Butler, Estelle Disch).
- Ecocriticism (Raymond Williams, Cheryll Glotfelty,
Harold Fromm, Barbara Jurša, Branislava Vičar)
-Systematic-empirical approaches: Empirical Literary Studies (Siegfried Schmidt), Systems Theory (Niklas Luhmann), Literary Field Theory (Pierre Bourdieu), Polysystems Theory (Itamar Even-Zohar).
-cognitive literary studies (Michael Burke, Emily Troscianko)

Knowledge and understanding:

The student will gain an overview of modern approaches to literary theory.
The student knows the main theoretical orientations in the field of literary studies and their representatives.

Skills:

The student develops the ability to analyze literary texts from the perspective of different literary theoretical approaches.

• Baudillard, Jean. Simulaker in simulacija. Ljubljana: Študentska založba, 1999.
• Bhabha, Homi. Of Mimicry and Man: The Ambivalence of colonial discourse. October, Vol. 28, Discipleship: A Special Issue on Psychoanalysis (Spring, 1984), pp. 125-133. https://doi.org/10.2307/778467 E-version
• Burke, Michael in Emily T. Troscianko. (ur.) Cognitive Literary Science: Dialogues between Literature and Cognition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
• Butler, Judith. Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. London: Routledge, 1990.
• Čeh Steger, Jožica. Ekologizacija literarne vede in ekokritika. Slavistična revija 60/2. 199–212., 2012. E-version
• Čeh Steger, Jožica. Ekokritika in literarne upodobitve narave: Maribor: Založba Litera, 2016
• Debeljak, Aleš. Postmoderna sfinga: kontinuiteta modernosti in postmodernosti. Celovec: Wieser, 1989.
• Disch, Estelle. (ur.) Reconstructing gender: A multicultural anthropology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008.
• Dović, Marijan. Sistemske in empirične obravnave literature. Ljubljana: ZRC SAZU, 2004. Catalogue
• Fanon, Frantz. V suženjstvo zakleti. Ljubljana : Založba /*cf., 2010.
• Flis, Leonora: Factual Fictions. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars, 2010. Catalogue
• Glotfelty, Cheryll in Harold Fromm (ur.). The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1996.
• Hutcheon, Linda. The Politics of Post Modernism. Routledge, 2000.
• Jameson, Fredric. Postmodernizem. Ljubljana : Društvo za teoretsko psihoanalizo, 2001
• Juvan, Marko. Literarna veda v rekonstrukciji. Ljubljana: Literatura, 2006. Catalogue
• Lyotard, Jean-François. Postmoderno stanje: Poročiloo vednosti. Ljubljana : Društvo za teoretsko psihoanalizo, 2002 http://www.drustvo-dtp.si/analecta/product_info.php?products_id=31
• Oppermann, Serpil. Ecocentric Postmodern Theory: Interrelations between Ecological, Quantum, and Postmodern Theories. Goodbody, Axel, in Rigby, Kate (ur.): Ecocritical theory: new European approaches. Charlottesville; London: University of Virginia Press. 230–242, 2011. E-version
• Spivak, Gayatri Charavorty. “Can The Subaltern Speak?”Gary Nelson and Lawrence rossberg. ed. Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture.London: Macmillan, 1988. E-version
• Virk, Tomo. Strah pred naivnostjo: poetika postmodernistične proze. Ljubljana: Literarno-umetniško društvo Literatura, 2000. Catalogue

Seminar (written assignment and presentation) 50 %

Exam 50 %

Assistant professor Dr. Ivana Zajc deals with digital humanities, especially with distant reading of literary texts, and with literary theoretical questions. She researches Slovene literary history from the point of view of the work of women writers and the history of emotions. She is the author of the scientific monograpf What is literary competence and how we test it with the matura essay. Her scientific articles have been published in many Slovene and foreign journals.

Selection of articles:

ZAJC, Ivana. Elementi monodrame in avtobiografskosti v besedilih Simone Semenič: vidik računalniške stilometrije. Amfiteater: revija za teorijo scenskih umetnosti. 2019, letn. 7, št. 2, str. 80-98. [COBISS.SI-ID 4859227].
MANDIĆ, Lucija, ZAJC, Ivana. Stilometrična analiza avtorskega sloga Jurčič-Kersnikovega romana Rokovnjači. V: POTEKO, Ina (ur.). Slovansko jezikovno in literarno povezovanje ter zgodovinski kontekst: Mednarodni študentski simpozij Slovan Slovanu Slovan. Ljubljana: Študentska organizacija Filozofske fakultete, 2020, str. 7-13. [COBISS.SI-ID 84473347].
ZAJC, Ivana. Literarna zmožnost kultiviranega bralca in Evropski literarni okvir. Jezik in slovstvo. 2019, letn. 64, št. 3/4, str. 57-67, 156. [COBISS.SI-ID 70990690].
ZAJC, Ivana. Slovene teachers' opinions on teaching literature in grammar schools. Slovene studies: journal of the Society for Slovene Studies. 2022, vol. 44, no. 1, str. 25-42. [COBISS.SI-ID 134481667].