Course content

The course is an obligatory part of the Master's programmes in French and German, and the Master's programmes in English and Scandinavian literature. The teaching is organized as a collaboration between the various disciplines of study. The course consists of joint lectures and lectures tied to the discipline of study.
The joint lectures give an introduction to central schools in literary theory after 1900, such as for example Formalism, Hermeneutics, New Criticism, Structuralism, Psychoanalysis, Feminism, Deconstruction and Post Colonialism. The content in the discipline-specific part will vary with the various disciplines and each discipline of study sets the details.
Students on the master's programme in German or French who already have taken the course ALIT2201 must replace the curriculum for the course's joint section. Contact the Department for Scandinavian Studies and Comparative Literature for details.

Learning outcome

The students should gain insight into basic aesthetic- and literary theories. Furthermore, the course aims to enable the students to employ these theoretical perspectives in their work with texts - and in other areas which requires abstractive thought on an advanced level. At the oral exam the students will be asked to discuss and reflect on different theoretical perspectives on the basis of texts from the curriculum.

Learning methods and activities

Lectures and seminars.
Compulsory assignment: Approved reading list and one written assignment, 4-6 pages in the subject-based component.
Assessment: oral exam, 40 minutes.

Compulsory assignments

• Approved reading list
• One approved assignment (4-6 pages) in the discipline of study

Recommended previous knowledge

Bachelor's degree with specialization in Scandinavian literature, English, French or German studies, or Comparative Literature.

Required previous knowledge

None.

Course materials

The curriculum will be given by the teachers who lecture the course and will vary somewhat from semester to semester. A complete overview of the curriculum will be given first day of class. The course's joint section will have a curriculum at approximately 450 pages and consists of a collection of literary theoretical texts as well as a summary of literary theory.
The texts on the joint section will normally be read in Scandinavian or English and the teaching will be in Norwegian or English. The discipline specific section includes texts from the curriculum of various extent, depending on the texts character and degree of difficulty. The texts on the discipline specific section ought to be read in the original language and the language of instruction will vary in accordance with the discipline.

Credit reductions