Introduction to European Critical Theory

This subject provides an introduction to the central topics and problems raised in European Critical Theory in the period from 1945-present. It aims not merely to introduce the concepts, but to demonstrate how these concepts can be operationalised in methods of analysis. The topics to be considered will include, amongst others: the author, text/context/frame, formal methods and materialist/historical concerns, discourse, the reader, the subject. Critical paradigms and schools of thought explored include Marxism, Psychoanalysis, Deconstruction, Queer Theory, Frankfurt School of Critical Theory, French Feminism.