Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2026 - ENGL 364 D100

Literary Criticism: History, Theory, and Practice (4)

Class Number: 2229

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 5 – Apr 10, 2026: Tue, Thu, 10:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Exam Times + Location:

    Apr 18, 2026
    Sat, 8:30–11:30 a.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    30 units or two 200-division English courses. Recommended: ENGL 216.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

The study and application of select literary theories.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course is about the theory, history and practice of literary criticism. Criticism in theory, history and practice helps us think about the relevance of the literary to everyday life and the things that matter to us most in the world, including what it means to be human. For this reason, literary criticism as a field is deeply passionate and hotly contested. In fact, some of the simplest questions are the most theoretically contentious: What is literary representation? What is the relationship between the world and the text? What is the status of the author and the role of the reader? In engaging these questions, this course offers a basic grounding in the purpose and practice of literary theory. We will trace central debates and thorny questions that help us situate the nature and value of foundational concepts like literature and the imagination within a history of continuity, contestation, and revision. Our reading will loop back and forth through a canon that has perpetually been on fire with exciting ideas but also under fire because innovative forms of thinking can provoke unsettling effects. Our reading will range across a long history of literary theorizing, from Plato and Aristotle to Immanuel Kant, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Karl Marx, and Sigmund Freud as well as William Wordsworth, Matthew Arnold, and Walter Pater. Ultimately, we will focus on a series of influential and provocative contemporary perspectives on gender, sexuality, race, and the environment by Frantz Fanon, Judith Butler, Achille Mbembe, Glen Coulthard and more.

Grading

  • Participation 5%
  • Discussion Posts 15%
  • Oral Presentation 15%
  • Mid-term - In person 20%
  • Second Paper (1,000 -1,200 words) 20%
  • Final Exam - In person 25%

NOTES:

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Readings for this course will be available through Canvas.

REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Department Undergraduate Notes:

IMPORTANT NOTE Re 300 and 400 level courses: 75% of spaces in 300 level English courses, and 100% of spaces in 400 level English courses, are reserved for declared English Major, Minor, Extended Minor, Joint Major, and Honours students only, until open enrollment begins.

For all On-Campus Courses, please note the following:
- To receive credit for the course, students must complete all requirements.
- Tutorials/Seminars WILL be held the first week of classes.
- When choosing your schedule, remember to check "Show lab/tutorial sections" to see all Lecture/Seminar/Tutorial times required.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

At SFU, you are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all your academic work. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty harms your own learning, undermines the efforts of your classmates who pursue their studies honestly, and goes against the core values of the university.

To learn more about the academic disciplinary process and relevant academic supports, visit: 


RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.