Course Content: Introduction to the works of Russian philosopher and literary critic, Mikhail Bakhtin. Introduction to Bakhtin's literary concepts and terminology, such as, answerability, architectonics, dialogism, polyphony, heteroglossia, the chronotope, novelization and the carnivalesque. . We will also discuss the appropriation of Bakhtin by various theoretical camps, both in Russia and in the West. We will read some of Bakhtin's shorter essays in full text and excerpts from his more extensive works. We will also read brief excerpts from some of the texts that inspired Bakhtin's formulation of the above mentioned concepts.

Prerequisite: ENG 416, or consent of instructor.

Objective: The intent of this course is to introduce students to Bahtin's philosopy and theory of literary genres and help them explore, extend and apply Bakhtin's literary theory. Students will receive a brief overview of Bakhtin's life and work, placing him in the context of contemporary formalist and Marxist literary theorists. They will then explore Bakhtin's philosophy, his work on the novel and the concepts he formulated in the process. This theoretical preparation will be put to practice as students apply Bakhtinian theory to their analysis of literary texts.

Methods: The course methodology will consist of lectures, class discussion, research and oral presentations.

Assessment and Course Requirements: Students will be evaluated and graded on class participation, research papers and oral presentations. Both graduate and undergraduate students will write a paper applying an aspect of Bakhtinian theory to a literary work of their choice. Both undergraduate and graduate students will be required to submit a research prospectus and a brief work-in-progress oral presentation at midterm and a completed research paper and oral presentation on the last day of class. Undergraduate students will write ten-page research papers with a minimum of five critical sources. Graduate students will write twenty-page research papers with a minimum of ten critical sources. In addition, graduate students will be required to read and do a presentation of a full-length critical or theoretical text from the list of suggested reading .

Student Outcomes: This course promotes development of analytical and critical thinking and writing. It also provides greater familiarity with twentieth century literary theory and its application in textual analysis.

The instructor will also provide an extensive bibliography on the topic and a reader (or readers) of appropriate excerpts (see preliminary reference list below).

Reader:

A reader compiled by instructor will contain brief excerpts from the following texts inspired some of Bakhtin’s theoretical formulations:

Longinus' The Golden Ass, Kant's Critique of Judgment ("Analytic of the Sublime," ##43-47), Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground; Rabelais' Gargantua and Pantagruel; Longus' Daphnis and Chloe, as well as Plato's and Aristotle's conceptualization of Being, and Beowulf.