The course will consist of fortnightly lectures (for all participants) with associated tutorials (2 groups) in the week following the lecture week.
The aim is to learn to read theoretical texts, discover their line of argumentation, become aware of their omissions and see that the authors have produced their texts in a certain situation with particular goals in mind.
The course will cover topics such as New Criticism, structuralism, poststructuralism, deconstruction, psychoanalytical criticism, Marxism, New Historicism, feminism, queer studies, postcolonial studies, and Cultural Studies.

Each student is expected to purchase Hans Bertens: Literary Theory: The Basics (2nd ed., 2008; available at the university bookstore), which will provide preliminary reading for each lecture.
In the tutorials, students will be expected to apply the theoretical positions to literary texts.