DEPARTMENT OF AMERICAN CULTURE AND LITERATURE

2012-2013 FALL TERM

AKE 3009 Psychological Themes in American Literature Course Syllabus           

Instructor Information

Instructor          : Arsev Aysen Arslanoglu

Office               : Block A Room A 114

Office Hours      : Friday 10:00-11:00

E-mail               : arsev@yahoo.com (Please do not send any unnecessary messages and do not forget to write the subject of your message in the subject line)

Course Description:

This course is mainly an inquiry into Freud’s use of literature and literature’s use of Freud. We will focus on the history of psychoanalysis and Freud's major ideas by discussing how these ideas can be benefited from in the criticism of literary texts. Then, we will review the views of such post-Freudian author as Melanie Klein and D.W.Winnicott and discuss the literary uses of their theories by focusing on some literary works.

         

Course Program:

1st week	October 4	Introduction to the course
2nd week	October 11	The Origin and Development of Psychoanalysis (Sigmund Freud) Freud, “The Unconscious” (1915) Freud, “The Libido Theory” (1923)
3rd week	October 18	Freud, “The Relation of the Poet to Daydreaming” (1908) Freud, “A Connection Between a Symbol and a Symptom” (1916) Freud, “Dostoyevsky and Parricide” (1928)
4th week	October 25	Official holiday
5th week	November 1	Elisabeth Roudinesco, Why Psychoanalysis?
6th week	November 8	Walker Percy, Love in the Ruins: The Adventures of a Bad Catholic at a Time Near the End of the World
7th week	November 15	Walker Percy, Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book Walker Percy, Signposts in a Strange Land
8th week	November 22	Midterm Examination
9th week	November 29	Jay R. Greenberg  Stephen A. Mitchell, Object Relations in Psychoanalytic Theory
10th week	December 6	D.W. Winnicott, Playing and Reality
11th week	December 13	Jacques Lacan, Ecrits: A Selection
12th week	December 20	Jacques Lacan, Ecrits: A Selection
13th week	December 27	Jacques Lacan, On Feminine Sexuality
14th week	January 3	Anne Carson, Glass, Irony and God
15th week	January 10	Concluding Remarks

            ***You are expected to come to class having read the assigned text.

***It is very important you come to class on time. If you are late more than five minutes, please wait for the next course hour.

*** You should attend minimum 70% of the courses.

*** Grading: Midterm Examination 40%, Final Examination 60%