GERST 6480 - [Critical Theory and Literature: Lukacs, Benjamin, Adorno]

(crosslisted)
(also COML 6891)

4 credits.

Next offered 2014-2015.

P. Fleming.

In recent years the literary criticism of Lukács, Benjamin, and Adorno has received renewed attention, but in many instances this interest has remained abstract and without regard for the literary works that were the basis for their theoretical reflections. This seminar will focus on their contributions to literary criticism and literary theory in the context of modern literary history. The seminar will examine the aesthetic and methodological questions raised in Critical Theory by looking equally at the literary works and the interpretations offered by Lukács, Benjamin, and Adorno. Special attention will be given to the period of German Classicism and European Modernism. Among the literary authors to be examined will be Goethe, Hölderlin, George, Kafka, Brecht, and Beckett.