Royal University of Phnom Penh

Department of Khmer Literature

Master of Art in Khmer Literature

Prof. Ponn Chhay

ponnchhay@yahoo.com
An introduction to Modernism Literary Theory
DESCRIPTION: Introduction to the major principles of contemporary literary theory and
criticism and to established methods and materials of literary research on Khmer literature and
culture studies. This course serves as a broad introduction to the Khmer major and to the study
of literature more generally. Our focus will be on representative works and genres from different
periods in literary history Khmer literature 1953-presents.

OBJECTIVES: Students will demonstrate

1. understanding of the basic theoretical concepts underlying contemporary approaches to

World and Local literature and of the major differences between them;

2. understanding of the aims of literary criticism; knowledge of key forms and terminology
of literary criticism; ability to read the writings of literary scholars and critics with
understanding and judicious appreciation;

3. knowledge of the methods and materials of literary research; ability to conduct literary
research according to established procedures and to use such research effectively and
responsibly;

4. ability to generate and articulate personal responses to literary and critical texts, and to
explain the premises and assumptions underlying such personal responses;

5. Ability to write a critical essay that states a clear thesis and supports it persuasively,
integrating literary research with personal ideas.

COURSE REQUIREMENT

1) Participation25%: Students are required to attend every session, to be prepared and

courteous at all times, to make informed contributions to our in-class discussions, and to
complete in-class writing assignments. See below, under course policies.

2) Midterm Exam15%: A short exam administered in week 8 consisting of matching,

multiple choice, short answer, and one or two short essays.
 3) Short Paper (4-8 pages)15%: A context-free close reading of a passage in Khmer
Literature (1953-presents). Emphasis will be on sustained, insightful interpretation.
Details to follow in week 2.

4) Long Paper (5-10 pages)25%: A research paper analyzing one or two of the primary
works discussed in this course in the context of contemporary criticism or theory (i.e. using our
secondary readings to elucidate the primary text). Emphasis will be on interpretation and the use
of critical tools introduced. Details to follow in week 9.

5) Exam20%: A comprehensive essay exam administered at the end of the term,

covering both primary and secondary materials (i.e. characters, plots, themes, but also theoretical
schools, critical concepts, etc.). I will offer a study session in the final week of class.

COURSE POLICIES

Academic Honesty
All work submitted for this course must be written in your own words
and constructed upon a plan of your own devising. Work copied in either
letter or spirit from any source without proper attribution constitutes
plagiarism, and will be referred to the university for disciplinary action. You
are encouraged to familiarize yourself with the Khmer Literature
Departments policy on plagiarism.

Attendance
This is a seminar, which means one of our primary objectives is to
read, discuss, interpret, and collaborate as a group. Attendance is therefore
integral to the participation segment of the course requirements. Any
absence will have a negative effect on your participation grade. Exceptions
will be made for documented emergencies or events outside your control
such as major illnesses, deaths in the family, or religious holidays. These
must be called to my attention or negotiated in advance.

Late Work
The due dates outlined in this syllabus are non-negotiable. An
assignment arriving late will be graded accordingly. Extensions will be
granted only under extraordinary circumstances.

Participation
Bodily presence alone does not constitute participation. You must
demonstrate your engagement with the course materials through active and
vigorous contributions to in-class activities. This means reading the assigned
materials in advance, showing up to class prepared to talk to me and each
other, and refraining from discourteous or distracting behavior (texting,
internet, sleeping).
Note: its okay to be shy, but if I do not have some outward measure of
your participation, I cant award you the points. If you are not talking
regularly in class, and/or are worried about your score, please email or speak
to me about written alternatives to in-class participation.

SCHEDULE

Week 1: Introduction
Terry Eagleton, The Rise of English (handout)
Terry Eagleton, Literary Theory: An Introduction (Paperback)

Week 2: What is Literature? What is Theory?

Jonathan Culler, Literary Theory, chapters 1, 2, and 4
Culler, Literary Theory, chapters 5 and 6

Week 3: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Approaches I: Formalism

New Criticism (in the appendix of Literary Theory)

Short paper assignment distributed

Week 4: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Approaches II: Historicism

Stephen Greenblatt, from Towards a Poetics of Culture (handout);
Culler, Marxism and New Historicism/Cultural Materialism
(appendix, Literary Theory)

Week 5: The Canon and the Culture Wars

Culler, Literary Theory, chapter 3; selections from Historical
Backgrounds and Criticism TBA, in Oroonoko

Week 6: Race, Empire, and Postcolonial Studies

Culler, Literary Theory, chapter 8 and Postcolonial Theory, Minority
Discourse
Short Paper Abstract for long paper due

Week 7: Psychoanalysis
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (read all); Culler, Psychoanalysis)

Short paper due in class

Week 8: Marxist Approaches
Midterm exam, in class

Week 9: Gender and Sexuality

Margot Norris, Not the Girl She Was at All: Women in The Dead
Culler, Queer
 Long paper assignment distributed

Week 10: Poetics, Abstraction, and Aesthetics (Revisited)

T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land;

Abstract for long paper

Week 11: Linguistics and Structuralism

Culler, Structuralism

Week 12: Post-structuralism

Long paper due in class

Week 13: After Literature, After Theory

Shields, Reality Hunger (continued)

Week 14: Conclusions

In-class wrap-up; brief introduction to the digital humanities,
quantitative interpretation,
.
Final exam, in class

SUGGEST READING: