The course explores the significant connection between the evolution of the subject as a philosophical concept and the way we understand agency and inspiration in moments of creativity. We will tease out the dynamic relation between the two by attending to the scene of interrupted writing in works of fiction and poetry from Romanticism to the present. Close readings will be accompanied by a number of critical essays that reflect on authorship and the subject.

The course follows the evolution of literary representations of evil from the Renaissance to the 20th Century. We will return to some of the canonical works of English and American literature in examining the manner in which different historical contexts effect significant changes in the conceptualization and articulation of notions of antagonism and transgression. We will also test the manner in which the evolution of genre and the rise of the novel contribute to these marked fluctuations. Our readings will include Christopher Marlowe´s Dr. Read more about Villains in English Literature

We will read key texts of critical theory from the early to the late Twentieth Century, representative of Structuralism, Poststructuralism, Psychoanalysis, Feminism, New Historicism, Posthumanism and Disability Studies. The course is premised on the idea that theory informs each and every act of reading and interpretation. We will unravel and discuss the central tenets of each movement and the evolution of theoretical ideas throughout the century. Read more about Twentieth Century Literary Theory