From Plato to Post-modernism: Understanding the Essence of Literature and the Role of the Author

Passionate Profesdor

Unless you were an English Literature major, you probably never considered poetry or fictional prose in this way. Perhaps you've heard of critical theory but weren't sure what it was. Maybe you've encountered it in the context of philosophy, political science, or linguistics, but these contexts are spin-offs of the original, which is poetical literature.
Does poetry matter to society? Can a poetical work be sublime and timeless, or is it always a mere transient expression of a social niche? To what extent do poems reflect the author's original thinking rather than the social influences on the author? Do critics of poetical literature add value for readers?
The professor knows these are unfamiliar questions to anyone who did not major in literature, and he is excited to convey them to.a lay audience. His voice is always clear, animated, and easy to listen to.

8 people found this helpful

Disappointed in the teaching company

I normally love almost anything from the teaching company, and I have listened to many of their lectures. I can’t believe they allowed such a biased man to handle the very important topic of literary theory. A creationist who clearly has no understanding of modern science or postmodernism, completely misunderstands and does an abhorrent job at explaining post modern feminism and feels the need to speak of his Christian beliefs as if all of his listeners agree with him. I can’t believe this man has a job, let alone was trusted with this series of lectures. I will continue to listen to lectures through the teaching company, but they have fallen dramatically in my mind after this one. They should rehire and do this lecture series again.

4 people found this helpful

Learned a ton

I really learned significant amount listening to these lectures. Can't wait to listen through them again.

4 people found this helpful

Good overview, but very biased

This is a great course to introduce a lot of the ideas of critical theory. However, the instructor seems to be very biased against the ideas of modernism and post-modernism.

3 people found this helpful

As a philosopher

I can say that this is one of the best/most accurate portrayals of not only the arts but of objective truths. Bravo

3 people found this helpful

Very good until it it gets to the 20th Century

Professor Markos is a passionate teacher on the history of poetry. I was a little disappointed that he was only covering poetry when I started the course, but quickly got engrossed in his lectures because he has organized the course very well and so some of the more difficult concepts of that emerge in the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries were very well explained.

However, when Prof. Markos gets to the 20th century, it becomes very clear just how disenchanted he is with even modernity, not to mention post-modernity. His derision is obvious and unhelpful. Primarily because, for instance, people like Derrida are some of the hardest philosophers to understand when it comes to literature. I could have used less derision and more information.

23 people found this helpful

From Plato to Arnold, Then We Get Defensive

What aspect of Professor Louis Markos’s performance would you have changed?

The early lectures are decent, if scattered, and I enjoyed Professor Markos' spirited defense of New Criticism...but as the course goes on his disdain for modern and post-modern thought becomes too much to bear. The last third of the course is a mangled attack on modern critical thought, sprinkled with sometimes-embarrassing Christian apologia. Markos makes only a passing attempt to explain 20th century literary theory, and spends an inordinate amount of time leveling criticisms that are (at best) incomplete and (at worst) insulting. His arguments are worthy of scholarly consideration (as one would expect from a scholar of his stature) but they're ill-suited to a popular survey of the history of literary theory.

I suppose I was spoiled by Lawrence Cahoone's contributions to The Great Courses, in which he explicitly tries to make the best case for each philosophical tradition that he covers. Markos makes no such pretense to pedagogical fairness: he charts a clearly polemical course which sometimes drifts into ugly terrain. His brief treatment of contemporary feminist theory is fraught, to say the least, and he gives no perspective on the impact of modern and post-modern ideas on the aesthetics of their age. He clearly illustrates the influence of then-contemporary theory on Classical dramatists, Romantic poets, etc., but makes no mention of the ways in which modernist and post-modernist thought inform, say, the works of Virginia Woolf or Thomas Pynchon.

Hopefully, The Great Courses will one day give the English department its due. For those looking for a quick "literary theory boot camp" I recommend Jonathan Culler's Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction.

12 people found this helpful

More Phil than Lit - Christian Op re Evolution

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The class was not what i expected, however, the information was actually better. I enjoyed the philosophical approach even though I was expecting more specific references to literature and authors. I listen again to many of the lectures in the future. My issue with the class: Professor Markos makes evident that he has strong Christian beliefs, that is not a problem. The problem arises in the 21st lecture when he states that evolution and creationism are both myths - neither can be proved. This is an opinion that is stated as a fact. To state that evolution may occur within a species but there is no proof of any general evolution should be followed with a disclaimer that it is his opinion based on his religion. Otherwise, a very informative class.

12 people found this helpful

too advanced for my understanding at this point

the course is too advanced for me at this point, I'm lacking the knowledge or the time to sit down and study it properly

2 people found this helpful

Be warned

The title and description of this great course is misleading. There is very little at all regarding the role of the author. Also, much of the material was completely ruined for me by the professor's pre-occupation with his own Christian worldview. The lectures are less about the "essence of literature and the role of the author" than they are about his own (inaccurate) views of many philosophers and a lot of bizarre Christian apologetics. I wouldn't recommend this course to someone looking for a general history of literary theory.

24 people found this helpful