This course builds on and deepens the theoretical and methodological knowledge acquired in the foundational modules ‘Introduction to Literary and Cultural Studies’ I and II. We will combine close readings of Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Twelfth Night with discussions informed by a range of theoretical approaches.

The objective of this class is to find a meaningful connection between different theoretical approaches and Shakespeare’s plays. For this purpose, we will read Romeo and Juliet (1595) and Hamlet (1600) and approach them from psychoanalytic, feminist, historicist and queer angles. The point lies in establishing that these plays have not one meaning that we discover through interpretation, but rather that we can choose to foreground certain discourses in the text. This should enable you to find a suitable term paper topic for the seminar that is part of the same module.

For this class, all students will be required to present one of the theoretical approaches in class, but all texts will be on the Learnweb by the beginning of term.
Please make sure you have read both Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet before we begin in October. You can read any edition you want or that is available to you.

Kurs im HIS-LSF