DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPY IN LITERATURE

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN LITERATURE

Program Overview

The Doctor of Philosophy in Literature Program aims to develop competent and responsible literary scholars and artists by providing them training in research and literary criticism, creative writing, and cultural studies; opportunities for sustained investigation of aspects of literature and literary history, particularly that of the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific; and supervision in the production of research projects that will be vital contributions to the fields of literary/cultural studies and literary production.

 

Students interested in literary studies may work on theory and criticism, comparative literature, regional literatures, literary history, translation studies, and textual scholarship.  The program aims to equip students with the critical tools and necessary skills to rethink theoretical categories     and critical practice as they relate to the study of literatures in the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific, and to contribute to the growing body of scholarship on interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary explorations of literature.

 

The cultural studies courses complement the literature courses in its rethinking of “literature” and seek to create more opportunities for multidisciplinary / anti-disciplinary fora among Filipino scholars here and abroad.  The cultural studies courses cover cultural production of arts and    media, cyber technology and globalization, pop culture, gender and sexuality, language and ideology, nation/nationalism, diaspora and globalities, neo-colonial and postcolonial relations, region and ethnicity, etc.  It will cover a wider range of theories and methods of inquiry, exploring interrelations and interactions among subject areas and disciplines.

 

The creative writing track is the department’s answer to the increasing demands for more high-level training in imaginative writing.  The core courses provide writers/students with adequate background in the critical and theoretical aspects of writing, which is expected of a Ph.D.      graduate and which should complement their craft and knowledge of techniques.  Under the guidance of experienced writers and teachers, writers will have sufficient opportunities to hone their craft, theorize about their chosen genre, and contribute to scholarship on the genre.

 

Curriculum

Course Requirements

Core Courses	15 units
Major Specialization Courses	21 units
Dissertation	12 units
Total	48 units

Core Courses

LIT527D	Introduction to Scholarship
LIT660P	Twentieth Century Theory and Criticism
LIT888P	Philippine Critical Tradition
LIT531D	Literature and Philosophy
LIT661P	Critical Writing

 

 Major Specialization Courses

Depending on the field of specialization (literary studies, creative writing, or cultural studies), a student chooses seven courses in any of the following topics: genre, creative writing, period, continental and comparative literature, Philippine literature, theory, and cultural studies. Sample courses include Literary History of the Philippines; Literary Masterpieces; Eco-feminist Literature; Popular Literature; The Culture Concept; Popular Literature; Gender, Sexuality & Literature; Performance Studies; Postcolonial Studies; Literary Pathography; Literature and Film; Literature and the Environment; Literature and the Social Sciences; and the Literature Seminar.

A student may also opt to enroll in a 3-unit Cognate course offered by CLA departments as is relevant to their dissertation.

 

Dissertation

LIT951P (onwards) Dissertation Writing

 

Course Description

CORE COURSES

 

Introduction to Scholarship LIT527D

3 units

This course prepares the students for the profession of a scholar. It acquaints them with the knowledge and utilization of essential resources for literary scholarship. It introduces the various methods and materials of research, including bibliography, textual criticism, historical criticism, the effective use of electronic technology, and selected critical and theoretical approaches. Critical questions and issues that have challenged the scholarly profession such as those concerning the nature of the text, the question of evidence, literary value, canonicity, authorship, historiography, book production, and institutional culture will be raised and examined.

 

Twentieth Century Theory and Criticism LIT660P
3 units

This course provides an introductory knowledge and understanding of modern and contemporary theories of literary and cultural criticism in the twentieth century. It seeks to equip the students with basic critical vocabulary, acquaint them with significant theoretical concepts, and introduce them to a range of topics and issues related to authorship, narrative, tradition, interpretation, language, culture, ideology and hegemony, gender and sexuality, subjectivity and identity, modernism and postmodernism, race and ethnicity, etc.

 

Philippine Critical Tradition LIT888P

3 units

This course examines the different trends and traditions of literary and cultural criticism in the Philippine contexts. It acquaints the students with a range of critical views and reading practices by Filipino critics such as Miguel Bernad, Nick Joaquin, Bienvenido Lumbera, E. San Juan, Lucila Hosillos, Isagani R. Cruz, Soledad Reyes, Nicanor Tiongson, Resil Mojares, Alice Guillermo, Virgilio Almario, Oscar Campomanes, Roland Tolentino, and Caroline Hau.

 

Literature and Philosophy LIT531D

3 units

This course acquaints the students with the different schools of thought focusing on the philosophy of literature. This includes philosophical discourses on literature and philosophical examinations of literary texts. Critical questions and issues concerning the relation between literature and philosophy will be raised and examined. Specific topics may include the following: tragedy, Chinese classical poetry, Romanticism, phenomenology, existentialism, postmodernism, and hypertextuality.

 

Critical Writing LIT661P

3 units

A scholarly writing workshop course designed to examine the practice of literary studies and criticism.

 

SAMPLE MAJOR COURSES

 

LITERARY STUDIES

 

Literary Masterpieces LIT711P

A reading course on literary masterpieces, with emphasis on works that have significantly changed the course of literary history in Asia, Africa, Europe, South America, and the States; a brief survey of major literary movements and themes will be given at the start of the course.

 

Literary History of the Philippines LIT730P

A reading course on the history of Philippine literature in the various vernacular and foreign languages, with emphasis on how that history is constructed; includes both ‘canonized’ and marginalized authors from the different regions and sectors in the Philippines and explores themes, movements, periods, trends, issues, and prospects in Philippine literary history. Students are expected to submit and defend a proposal for their own project in literary history.

 

Popular Literature LIT762P

A study of the history of popular literature and the theoretical approaches to its study; reading of representative works in English and Filipino.

 

Women’s Literature LIT331P

Close reading of the fiction, poetry, and plays of selected women writers; examines their resolution to the question of the narrative voice, the image of women and women writing reflected in the works and the manner in which the self is presented.

 

CULTURAL STUDIES

 

The Culture Concept LIT781D

Culture is one of the most contested concepts across the disciplines and foundational to Cultural Studies. This course acquaints the students with classical, anthropological, sociological, and literary definitions of culture.

 

Gender, Sexuality and Literature LIT763P

A study of literature from the optic lens of genders and sexualities. Includes a survey of feminist and antihomophobic discourse/theories; an examination of the representations of the female and the homosexual subject in literature; and an interrogation of the identity politics of the writers/texts.

 

Performance Studies LIT769D

This course takes up performance both as object of study and as a mode of critical inquiry in the humanities and social sciences. It explores various understandings of performance, performance studies, and performance research, with a special attention to practices of performance in the Philippines.

 

Postcolonial Studies LIT771D

This course examines the rise [of] and ongoing conversation on Postcolonial Studies. The course explores how the main theoretical movements and debates intersect [and engage with] important questions and issues of nationalism and nationhood, transnationalism, cosmopolitanism and globalization, migration and diaspora, gender and sexuality, class, race and ethnicity.

 

CREATIVE WRITING

 

Pathography: Writing Illness to Wellness LIT370D

This course is an elective interdisciplinary seminar course on the intersections of Literature and Medicine, and focuses on Pathography: Narratives of Illness, Recovery, and Death. The texts for study in the course are literary pathographic texts as well as medical theories on pain and literary theories on narrative.

 

Creative Nonfiction LIT672D  

A study of the craft of writing biographies and autobiographies and other forms of creative nonfiction; exercises in writing short biographies of literary figures based on research and interviews, and on writing about one’s own life.

 

Fiction Writing Techniques LIT697D

An in-depth study of the fundamentals of prose fiction beyond the undergraduate level; includes frequent writing exercises in the elements of description, characterization, dialogue, narrative viewpoint, the writing of short fiction, and peer analysis of these exercises.

 

Literature and Environment LIT345D  

This three-unit interdisciplinary course introduces students to the evolving nature of literature and environment studies.

 

OTHER COURSES

 

Literature Seminar LIT900P/Literature Seminar 01 LIT904D

Special topics in interdisciplinary studies, such as Literature and Psychoanalysis, Literature and Marxism, Literature and Linguistics, and Literature and Historiography.

 

Literature and Social Science LIT344D

This course delves into the relationship and intersections of Literature and Social Science mainly through the study of the sociology of literature.

 

Literature and Film LIT707D

A study of the relationship between literature and cinema, the major theoretical and aesthetic problems these relationships have provoked: verbal and visual language, literary discourses and film discourses, film and modern fiction.

 

Contemporary Philippine and Southeast Asian Novel LIT210D

A critical study of representative Philippine and Southeast Asian novels from 1946 to the present.

 

Poetry and Philosophy LIT371P

The course explores the relations between poetry and philosophy as complementary, though at times antithetical, discourses. It inquires into selected issues drawn from philosophy of literature, philosophy of poetry, and philosophy of language, such as truth in/and poetry, metaphorical meaning, and lyric philosophy.

 

DISSERTATION (LIT951P Onwards) (12 Units)

FACULTY MEMBERS AND AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION

 

Mesandel V. Arguelles, PhD Literature, De La Salle University

Contemporary Poetry; Contemporary Art; Conceptual Writing; Translation Studies

 

Genevieve L. Asenjo, PhD Literature, De La Salle University

Creative Writing: Poetry and Fiction; Regional Literature (Hiligaynon, Kinaray-a); Ecocriticism

 

Anne Richie G. Balgos, PhD Applied Linguistics, De La Salle University

Educational Theatre; Drama Pedagogy; Applied Linguistics; Language and Literature Teaching

 

David Jonathan Y. Bayot, PhD Literature, De La Salle University

Theory and Criticism; Philippine Kritika; Translation Studies; Art Studies; Literary Research; Critical Writing

 

Ronald Baytan, PhD English Studies (Creative Writing), University of the Philippines-Diliman

Creative Writing: Creative Nonfiction and Poetry; LGBTQI Studies; Philippine Literature in English; Philippine Cinema

 

Ernesto V. Carandang II, DFA Creative Writing, De La Salle University

Creative Writing: Fiction, Poetry & Creative Nonfiction; Drama and Theatre Production; Arts Management; Philippine Arts and Heritage (focusing on Music, Architecture, Sacred Arts, Furniture, and Food)

 

Clodualdo del Mundo, Jr., Professor Emeritus, PhD Communication Studies (Film), University of Iowa

Media Studies; Philippine Cinema; Creative Writing: Screenwriting; Film Directing; Film Archiving

 

Noelle Leslie dela Cruz, PhD Philosophy, De La Salle University

Philosophy of Literature; Poetry and Philosophy; Science Fiction and Philosophy; Existential Phenomenology; Feminist Philosophy

 

Johann Vladimir Espiritu, PhD Literature, De La Salle University

Queer Studies; Music and Popular Culture; Creative Writing: Fiction

 

Marjorie Evasco-Pernia, Professor Emeritus, PhD Literature, De La Salle University

Creative Writing:  Poetry and Nonfiction; Pathography; Cebuano Literature; Literary Translation; Ekphrasis; Women’s Literature; Ecocriticism

 

Jazmin B. Llana, PhD Performance Studies, University of Wales

Performance Studies; Philippine Drama; Theater and Theater Studies; Bikol Literature; Performance Research

 

Shirley O. Lua, PhD Literature, De La Salle University

Philippine Critical Tradition; Film & Media Criticism; Diaspora Studies; Chinese-Philippine Literature; Literary and Cultural Research; Heritage Studies

 

Clarissa V. Militante, PhD Literature, De La Salle University

Narrative Studies; Philippine Novel; Creative Writing: Fiction; Journalism

 

Carlos M. Piocos, III, PhD Comparative Literature, University of Hong Kong

Critical Theory; Migration and Diaspora Studies; Mobility Studies; Postcolonial Studies; Creative Writing: Poetry; Southeast Asian Studies; Cultural Research

 

Dinah Roma, PhD Literature, De La Salle University

Diaspora Studies; Travel Writing/Theory; Creative Writing: Poetry; Southeast Asian Literary Studies

 

Anne Frances N. Sangil, PhD Literature, De La Salle University

Popular Culture; Film Studies; Philippine Cinema

 

Antonette Talaue-Arogo, PhD Literature, De La Salle University

Theory and Criticism; Postcolonialism and Cosmopolitanism; Decoloniality; Gender Studies

 

John Iremil E. Teodoro, PhD Literature, De La Salle University

Visayan Literature; Creative Writing: Fiction, Drama, Poetry, Nonfiction; Environmental Writing; Archipelagic Studies; Translations; Philippine Gay Culture

 

Jose Victor Torres, PhD History, University of Santo Tomas

Philippine History; Philippine Theater; Creative Writing: Drama; Heritage Studies