Literary Theory

The M.A. in Literary Theory offered in the University of Lisbon since 1991, by the Program in Literary Theory (henceforth ‘Program’), is to a great extent a program in the humanities. In the Program, the issues discussed are often part of current debates in departments of Literature or Philosophy, and even sometimes in fields such as the Arts, Law and the so-called Social Sciences. In the Program of Literary Theory there is not one required type of dissertation. Disciplinary boundaries count for less than the possibility of establishing relationships between different problems. The understanding of literature as an art form raises issues such as the relationship between literature and language, between literature and interpretation, literature and the other arts, literature and cognition. These are not merely an extension of the notion of literature and so are not optional interdisciplinary matters; rather, they are constitutive of any serious treatment of literature as an art form.