Critical Theories I
Course Content
Module I: Linguistic Turn
Required Reading
Concepts
● Structuralism
Saussurean Linguistics
Semiotics and Semiology o
Mythologies
Psychoanalysis
Freudian Psychoanalysis
Lacanian Psychoanalysis
Zizek and his Lacanian Critique
Saussure, Ferdinand de. “The Nature of the Linguistic Sign.” Course in General Linguistics. Columbia University Press. 2011. pp. 65–70.
Lacan, Jacques. “The Mirror Stage as Formative of the Function of the I as Revealed in Psychoanalytic Experience.” Reading French Psychoanalysis. Routledge. 2010. pp. 97– 104.
Text for Methodological Application Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Purloined Letter.” Journal of Literary Studies, vol. 3, no. 3, 1987, pp. 71–83., doi:10.1080/02564718708529833.
Recommended Reading Culler, Jonathan D. Structural Poetics: Structuralism, Linguistics and the Study of Literature. Cornell University Press. 1976. Barthes, Roland. “Death of the Author.” Modern Criticism and Theory: a Reader, by David 24 Lodge and Nigel Wood. Routledge. 2013. pp. 145–150. Chodorow, Nancy J. Feminism and Psychoanalytic Theory. Yale University Press, 1992. Zizek, Slavoj. How to Read Lacan. Granta Books. 2006.
Module II: Deconstructive Turn
Required Reading
Concepts o Poststructuralism
o Derrida and Deconstruction o
Play
Trace
Discourse
Derrida, Jacques. “Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Humanities.” Modern
Criticism and Theory: a Reader. David Lodge and Nigel Wood. Ed. Routledge. 2013.
pp. 89 – 103
Cultural Histories of Keralam
The course offers a critical introduction to Kerala Studies rooted in interdisciplinary methods and
approaches, familiarising students with the region’s history, culture and literature.
Australia: History, Culture and Literature
This course is aimed at introducing students to the history, culture and literature of Australia through an eclectic collection of texts covering diverse forms and genres of writing.