Introduction: the prehistory and rise of "theory"
Introduction continued: theory and functionalization
Ways in and out of the hermeneutic circle
The idea of the autonomous artwork
The new criticism and other western formalisms
Semiotics and structuralism
Linguistics and literature
Deconstruction I: Jacques Derrida
Deconstruction II: Paul de Man
The social permeability of reader and text
The Frankfurt School of Critical Theory
The political unconscious
The classical feminist tradition
African American criticism
Queer theory and gender performativity
The institutional construction of literary study
The end of theory? Neo-pragmatism
Conclusion: who doesn't hate theory now?
Appendix: passages referenced in lectures
The varieties of interpretation: a guide to further reading in literary theory, by Stefan Esposito.
