Literary Theory and Criticism

Literary Theory and Criticism

Last Date of Registration: 27th November, 2025

SKU: IIT Roorkee | 1st December - 21st December, 2025 Category:

Description about the workshop

The workshop is aimed at providing introductory knowledge of various critical theories and their application in analyzing literary texts. Understanding of literary theories is crucial in interpreting and evaluating artworks. A comprehensive study of the historical and philosophical trajectory of critical theories enable a more informed reading of art texts. The objective of this course is to trace the major trends and movements in literary theory. The course familiarizes students with the historical overview of major literary theorists, particularly of the 20th century. It consults various literary theories and studies the way they enrich and change our thinking about language, literature and society. The objective of the course is to sharpen interpretative skills in the light of various theoretical frameworks. The course will train the learners to apply various theoretical frameworks and concepts to literary and cultural texts. The course covers some of the major schools of literary theory, and is divided into 5 modules, as follows: 1) Freudian critique, Archetypal criticism (Carl Jung) – 2 hours 2) Neo-Freudian critiques, Psychoanalysis (Jacques Lacan, Julia Kristeva) – 2 hours 3) Structuralism (Ferdinand de Saussure, A.J. Greimas, Tzvetan Todorov, Post- Structuralism (Roland Barthes), Deconstructionism (Jacques Derrida)- 2 hours 4) Modernism and Post-modernism (Jean Francois Lyotard, Jean Baudrillard)- 2 hours 5) Feminism – Different waves and schools- 2 hours

Profile of the instructor

  Dr. Sarbani Banerjee is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee. Her interdisciplinary scholarship engages with postcolonial literature, memory and trauma studies, gender and cultural theory, and migration and diaspora narratives. She completed her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. Her teaching portfolio spans both undergraduate and graduate courses, such as Post-Partition Literature and Cinema, Literary and Cultural Theory, Art of Fiction, Communication and Skills Development, Literatures of the Ancient World, and Middle Ages. She has developed and offered NPTEL courses on topics including Partition, Fiction, Performance & Gender, Refugee Migration, and Tribal Studies. Dr. Banerjee is published in journals of repute, including South Asian Review, Journal of Postcolonial Writing, Interventions, Feminist Media Studies, Journal of Cultural Research, CINEJ.

Intended Audience & Eligibility

Intended audience: BE/ME/MS/BA/MA/B.Ed./BSc/MSc/PhD (Service and non-service backgrounds)  Eligibility : The Workshop is Open to all

Fee of the workshop

Fee: Rs. 1416 (Rs 1200+18%GST) 

 

Modules

Day Module name Concepts covered Recorded videos - number of hours Live sessions - No. of hours Assessment Learning outcomes
Monday - Dec 1 Module 1- Freudian critique Freudian critique Recorded – 1 hour Topic-based MCQ quiz Understanding basic concepts of Freudian psychoanalysis
Monday - Dec 1 Module- 1 Archetypal criticism Carl Jung and Jungian archetypes Recorded – 1 hour Topic-based MCQ quiz Understanding Jungian archetypes and archetypal theory
Monday - Dec 1 Module 2- Neo-Freudian critiques Neo-Freudian critiques Recorded – 1 hour Topic-based MCQ quiz Understanding basic concepts of Neo-Freudian criticism
Monday - Dec 1 Module 2- Psychoanalysis Lacanian psychoanalysis, Julia Kristeva’s critique Recorded – 1 hour Topic-based MCQ quiz Understanding Lacan and Feminist Criticism of Psychoanalysis
Monday - Dec 1 Module 3- Structuralism Ferdinand de Saussure, A.J. Greimas, Tzvetan Todorov, Lévi-Strauss Recorded – 1 hour Topic-based MCQ quiz Understanding Sructuralism through major structuralist critics
Monday - Dec 1 Module 3- Post-Structuralism (Roland Barthes), Deconstructionism (Jacques Derrida) The Death of the Author by Roland Barthes, The concept of Differance by Derrida Recorded – 1 hour Topic-based MCQ quiz Understanding Post-structuralism through Roland Barthes, Understanding Derridian Deconstructionist critique
Monday - Dec 8 Module 4- Mod ernism Concepts of Edmund Husserl, works of Virginia Woolf, James Joyce Recorded – 1 hour Topic-based MCQ quiz Understanding the concept of modernism through the lens of major proponents
Monday - Dec 8 Module 4-Post-modernism Concepts of Jean Francois Lyotard, Jean Baudrillard Recorded hour – 1 Topic-based MCQ quiz Understanding the concept of post-modernism through the lens of major proponents
Monday - Dec 8 Module 5-Feminism – Different Waves and Schools Trajectory of feminism and its different waves, schools Recorded – 1 hour Topic-based MCQ quiz Understanding the basic ideas shaping different waves and schools of feminism
Monday - Dec 8 Module 5-Feminism – Different Schools (contd.) Trajectory of feminism and its different waves, schools Recorded – 1 hour Topic-based MCQ quiz Understanding the basic ideas shaping different waves and schools of feminism

Session Details

Mode of the Workshop : ONLINE

Date of the Workshop : 1st December - 21st December, 2025

Session details : 10 hours of recorded videos ( 5hrs per week, making it a 2 week course) and 5 hours of live sessions on Saturdays ( 2.5 hrs per sat for 2 weekends)

Cerification

Weekly assignments and final exam is mandatory for certification

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