小說理論

Theory of the Novel

學期

107-2

學分

3 學分

當期課號

5807

永久課號

ILC5282

開課單位

外國語文學系外國文學與語言學碩士班

授課教師

林建國

校區

光復

類別

選修

上課時間表

節	週四
5 13:20–14:10	小說理論 HC402 3 節連堂
6 14:20–15:10
7 15:30–16:20

* 根據陽明交大上課時間表所列

概述

The novel is the latest of all literary genres that develop in the West, but it happens also to be the most dominant literary expression of the present day. The theory on and about the novel achieves its first quantum leap with Georg Lukács, a Hungarian theorist writing in German, and later with the Russian critic Mikhail Bakhtin, whose discourse on the novel has single-handedly changed our conception of the genre. In this class, we will cover works that begin from the German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel, whose posthumous Aesthetics: Lectures on Fine Art (1835) Lukács is indebted to, and continue our discussion up to Northrop Frye's Anatomy of Criticism (1957). All the debates involved have in fact originated from Aristotle's Poetics and can find their resonance in contemporary scholars like Erich Auerbach, Fredric Jameson, and Galin Tihanov. Novelists whose views that go into our selections include E. M. Foster and Jane Smiley. The class will end on Andrew H. Plaks's note on the novel in premodern China. Our scope will mainly be on how the novel makes its journey throughout the literary history in the West: how it has developed and later differed itself from such other genres as the epic, tragedy, comedy, as well as the short story. The distinction between the novel and the fiction will also be briefly addressed. The novel, like other genres mentioned above, has its own response to make to the society at large, and this shall naturally be a subject we survey. Aside from theoretical writings, two shorter novels will be assigned for reading, which are George Orwell's Animal Farm (1945) and Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea (1952). Reading them will help us to better understand how the theory of the novel functions on the ground.

先修科目

Students must have a good command of English in reading and writing. All assignments and discussions will be conducted in English. This course is taught by Assc. Prof. Kien Ket Lim (limk728@g2.nctu.edu.tw).

教學方式

Teaching assistant: Angela 游師晴 (angelayu0207@gmail.com)

評分方式

Class Participation 15 points Online Responses (on all readings except the novels) 30 points Quizzes (on the two assigned novels) 25 points Term Paper 30 points Student with paper planning waiver Paper planning 5 points Final paper 25 points Other students Paper planning 15 points Final paper 15 points Total 100 points

週次計畫

週次	主題
第 1 週	Poetics READING Aristotle, Poetics (ca. 330 B.C.E.). The Norton Anthology, pp. 88-115.
第 2 週	The Craft Talk 1 No class. READING Jane Smiley, “What Is a Novel?” (2006), pp. 14-28.
第 3 週	The Craft Talk 2 READING E. M. Foster, “4. People (Continued)” & “5. The Plot,” Aspects of the Novel (1927), pp. 71-100.
第 4 週	Hegel 1: Epic Poetry READING G.W.F. Hegel, “Epic Poetry,” Aesthetics: Lectures on Fine Art (1835), pp. 1040-1093. [Skip from “(γγ) But, especially in relation to...” (p. 1073) up to before section “(C) The Epic as a Fully Unified Whole” (p. 1077).] QUIZ 1 George Orwell, Animal Farm, Chaps. I & II, pp. 1-17. PAPER PLANNING 1: Preparing the “Works Cited” list for books, book chapters, and essays from a print journal.
第 5 週	Hegel 2: Dramatic Poetry READING G.W.F. Hegel, “Dramatic Poetry,” Aesthetics: Lectures on Fine Art (1835), pp. 1158-1237. [Skip section “2. The External Execution of a Dramatic Work of Art” (pp. 1181-1192).] QUIZ 2 George Orwell, Animal Farm, Chaps. III & IV, pp. 17-29. PAPER PLANNING 2: Preparing the “Works Cited” list for the cross-reference.
第 6 週	Lukács 1 READING Georg Lukács, Part I, Chaps. 1-3, The Theory of the Novel (1920), pp. 29-69. QUIZ 3 George Orwell, Animal Farm, Chaps. V & VI, pp. 29-47. PAPER PLANNING 3: Preparing the “Works Cited” list for online journals and websites.
第 7 週	Lukács 2 No class. READING Georg Lukács, Part I, Chaps. 4-5; Part II, Chap. 1, The Theory of the Novel (1920), pp. 70-111.
第 8 週	Lukács 3 READING Georg Lukács, Part II, Chaps. 2-4, The Theory of the Novel (1920), pp. 112- 153. QUIZ 4 George Orwell, Animal Farm, Chaps. VII & VIII, pp. 47-71. PAPER PLANNING 4: From a print journal, photocopying an essay related to this class and preparing its “Works Cited” entry.
第 9 週	Lukács 4 READING Georg Lukács, “Chapter Two. Historical Novel and Historical Drama.” The Historical Novel (1937), pp. 89-170. [Read: pp. 89-90; “1. Facts of Life Underlying the Division between Epic and Drama” (pp. 90-106); “2. The Peculiarity of Dramatic Characterization”: begin from “We have already discussed...” (pp. 125-128); “3. The Problem of Public Character”: stop before “Drama is quite different” (pp. 128-133); “4. The Portrayal of Collision in Epic and Drama” (pp. 138-152).] QUIZ 5 George Orwell, Animal Farm, Chaps. IX & X, pp. 71-93. PAPER PLANNING 5: Preparing the “Works Cited” list for recordings, films, DVDs, and Blu-rays.
第 10 週	Lukács: Summing Up READING Fredric Jameson, “The Case for Georg Lukács.” Marxism and Form (1971), pp. 160-205. [Skip section “II” (pp. 182-190).] DISCUSSION On George Orwell’s Animal Farm (1945). PAPER PLANNING 6: Submitting a “Works Cited” list of 5 other works, reference materials, films, and/or websites related to our course.
第 11 週	Bakhtin 1: Contra Lukács READING Mikhail Bakhtin, “Epic and Novel,” pp. 3-40. QUIZ 6 Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, pp. 9-33. PAPER PLANNING 7: Quoting words from an essay (in less than 4 lines and more).
第 12 週	Bakhtin 2: Heteroglossia READING Mikhail Bakhtin, “Discourse in the Novel” (1934-1935), pp. 259-331. [Read p. 259, “Modern Stylistics & the Novel” (pp. 260-275), “Heteroglossia in the Novel” (pp. 301-331).] QUIZ 7 Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, pp. 34-54. PAPER PLANNING 8: Paraphrasing words from an essay or chapter.
第 13 週	Bakhtin 3: Chronotope READING Mikhail Bakhtin, “Forms of Time and of the Chronotope in the Novel” (1937-1938), pp. 84-258. [Read pp. 84-85, VIII (pp. 206-224), IX (pp. 236 [begin from *]-242), X (pp. 243-244 [stop before “And in such a novel as Wolfram...”], 250 [begin from *]-258).] QUIZ 8 Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, pp. 55-77. PAPER PLANNING 9: Writing a thesis statement and an outline for an essay in no more than two A4-pages.
第 14 週	Bakhtin: Summing Up READINGS Erich Auerbach, “From Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature. Chapter 1. Odysseus’ Scar” (1946). The Norton Anthology, pp. 1030-1046. Galin Tihanov, The Master and the Slave (2000): the section “Bakhtin’s Innovativeness: Limits and Substance” in Chap. 6, pp. 140-161. QUIZ 9 Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, pp. 78-102. PAPER PLANNING 10: Typing the first two pages and the “Works Cited” list for an essay according to the MLA format.
第 15 週	Lukács and Bakhtin Compared READING Galin Tihanov, The Master and the Slave (2000): Chaps. 3 “Genre” (pp. 49- 61) and 4 “Reification and Dialogue” (pp. 65-82). QUIZ 10 Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, pp. 103-127. PAPER PLANNING 11: Handing in your paper outline, which should include the paper title and thesis statement, in no more than two A4-pages.
第 16 週	The Anglo-American Perspective READING Northrop Frye, Anatomy of Criticism (1957). [Read “First Essay. Historical Criticism: Theory of Modes” (pp. 31-63; endnotes on pp. 379-382) and the section “Specific Continuous Forms: Prose Fiction” in “Fourth Essay. Rhetorical Criticism: Theory of Genres” (pp. 283-295; endnotes on pp. 410-411).] DISCUSSION On Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea (1952). PAPER PLANNING 12: Submitting your “Works Cited” list comprising the items you expect to use in your paper.
第 17 週	The Chinese Perspective READING Andrew H. Plaks, “The Novel in Premodern China” (2006), pp. 181-213. PAPER PLANNING 13: Discussing your paper outline with the instructor.
第 18 週	Paper Presentations PAPER PLANNING 14: Submitting your revised paper outline.
第 19 週	Term paper due today (Thursday) by noon.

教科書

The Course Reader, MLA Handbook (8th edition, MLA, 2016),Animal Farm, and The Old Man and the Sea.

Office Hours

地點: Instructor’s office: HC414 (Tel: 03-5731792, or campus extension 3-1792)
時間: Office hour: Tuesday, 3:30-5:30 PM, and by appointment
聯絡方式: Email: limk728@g2.nctu.edu.tw Tel: 03-5731792, or campus extension 3-1792