Course Title: European Literary Criticism: From Plato to Postmodernism
Starts: 1st Nov, 2025
Mode: Google Meet
Instructor: Monami Mukherjee
Course Objective: To trace the evolution of critical thought in Europe from classical philosophy to modern/postmodern theories, emphasizing major shifts in aesthetics, mimesis, imagination, and textuality.
Course Highlights:
Duration: 18 sessions × 2 hours
Classes Twice a Week: Wednesdays & Saturdays
Full Mock Test & Certificate at Course End
Class Recordings & Study Materials Provided
Course Modules:
MODULE 1: Classical Foundations (Sessions 1–3)
Session 1: Plato – Art and Truth
• Themes: Mimesis, art and morality, poet’s place in the Republic
• Text: The Republic, Book X (selection on poetry & imitation)
Session 2: Aristotle – Art and Catharsis
• Themes: Poetics as rational aesthetics, imitation revalued, tragedy & catharsis
• Text: Poetics (sections on tragedy, mimesis, plot, catharsis)
Session 3: Longinus – The Sublime and the Transport of the Soul
• Text: On the Sublime (chapters 1–7, 8–15 excerpts)
• Themes: Sublimity as transcendence, emotional power of language, genius vs. technique.
MODULE II: Roman and Renaissance Humanism (Sessions 4–6)
Session 4: Horace – Art as Delight and Instruction
• Text: Ars Poetica
• Themes: Decorum, unity, poet’s moral function, craftsmanship.
Session 5: Sidney – The Defense of Poetry
• Text: An Apology for Poetry (selections)
• Themes: Poetry as moral inspiration; synthesis of classical and Christian thought.
Session 6: Dryden – Neoclassical Balance
• Text: An Essay of Dramatic Poesy (selections: Neander’s views)
• Themes: Comparative criticism, nature vs. art, rules vs. genius.
MODULE III: Romantic Aesthetics (Sessions 7–10)
Session 7: Wordsworth – Emotion and Imagination
• Text: Preface to Lyrical Ballads (1802 version, selections)
• Themes: Poet’s role, spontaneity, simplicity, relationship to nature.
Session 8: Coleridge – Organic Unity and Imagination
• Text: Biographia Literaria (chapters XIII, XIV, XVII)
• Themes: Primary vs. secondary imagination, organic form.
Session 9: Shelley – The Poet as Legislator
• Text: A Defence of Poetry (selections)
• Themes: Idealism, poetry and social regeneration, imagination as moral faculty.
Session 10: Matthew Arnold – The Touchstone and Culture
• Text: The Study of Poetry and Culture and Anarchy (extracts)
• Themes: Poetry as criticism of life, moral function of literature, classicism revisited.
MODULE IV: Modernist Criticism (Sessions 11–13)
Session 11: T. S. Eliot – Tradition and Impersonality
• Text: Tradition and the Individual Talent, The Function of Criticism
• Themes: Objective correlative, historical sense, impersonality in art.
Session 12: I. A. Richards – Practical Criticism and Response Theory
• Text: Practical Criticism (intro + analysis sections)
• Themes: Psychological aesthetics, reader response, ambiguity and meaning.
Session 13: New Criticism in Context
• Figures: Cleanth Brooks, Wimsatt
• Themes: Intentional fallacy, paradox, close reading.
MODULE V: Later 20th Century & Postmodern Perspectives (Sessions 14–18)
Session 14: Structuralism and Semiotics
• Figures/Text: Ferdinand de Saussure (Course in General Linguistics excerpts), Roland Barthes (“The Death of the Author”)
• Themes: Language as structure, sign systems, authorial intent reconsidered.
Session 16: Reader-Response and Reception Theory
• Figures: Wolfgang Iser, Stanley Fish
• Themes: Reader as co-creator of meaning.
Session 17: Postmodern & Deconstruction
• Figures/Text: Derrida (“Structure, Sign and Play”), Foucault (“What Is an Author?”)
• Themes: Instability of meaning, critique of grand narratives.
Session 18: wrap-up session: Student presentations/Evaluation through test.
Course Fee (One Time):
2000 for Freshers
1500 for Existing and Ex-students
Last Date for Registration:
26th Oct, 2025
For more details, WhatsApp @9163520212