NED17–402 Introduction to Literature

Course code: NED17–402

Course name: Introduction to Literature
Time and location: Tuesday 14:00–15:30, R
Credits: 5
Semester: BA1
Prerequisites: NED17–401
Language: English
Type of grade: lecture
Hours/week: 2
Requirements and assessment: end-of-term written exam
Aims and objectives: The aim of this course is to introduce terms and methods students will
need in discussing literature. The definitions of the terms used at the lectures come from various
handbooks to literary studies and dictionaries of literary terms. The literary examples come
from all over the field of Dutch, Scandinavian and English literature. The exam, however, will
not test the students’ knowledge of specific authors: instead, it will test their knowledge of
technical terms and analytical methods as well as their ability to analyse a piece of text they
may never have seen before.
Course material:
 Baldick, Chris. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2001.
 Childs, Peter and Roger Fowler. The Routledge Dictionary of Literary Terms. London;
New York: Routledge, 2006. Available at:
https://www.uv.es/fores/The_Routledge_Dictionary_of_Literary_Terms.pdf
 Cuddon, J.A. The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. London:
Penguin Books, 1998.
 Cuddon, J.A. A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. Chichester: Wiley-
Blackwell, 2013. Available at:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=2ahU
KEwjim6HSpprgAhUqxIsKHURuBZMQFjAAegQIDhAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fw
ww.researchgate.net%2Ffile.PostFileLoader.html%3Fid%3D56174c066143250b5b8b
457c%26assetKey%3DAS%3A282511356776450%401444367364847&usg=AOvVa
w1-EQEVkNN1YntecUaMDWgI
  Sarbu, Aladár. The Study of Literature: An Introduction for Hungarian Students of
English. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2008.
Course calendar
Week Date Topic
1. 12 February Introduction, Internet Resources, Literary Research Tools
2. 19 February Writing About Literature –Literary Studies as a Discipline, Making Sense of
a Text
3. 26 February Literary Genres
4. 5 March Figures of Speech
5. 12 March Poetry–Sound Patterning
6. 19 March Drama–Changing Historical Context
7. 26 March Drama–Routine, Conflict, Status Games
8. 2 March Fiction–Story, Plot, Narrative Voice
9. 9 April Fiction–Genres of Narrative fiction
10. 16 April Literary Theory–Cultural Memory, Postcolonial Studies
11. 23 April Spring break
12. 30 April Literary Theory–Gender Studies
13. 7 May Interdisciplinary Approach to The Study of Literature
14. 14 May Translation Studies, Adaptation Theory