| CODE | ENG5078 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | In Our Time: The Novel View | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | English | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | Certain works of literature seem to capture and crystallise something characteristic of the age in which they were written 鈥� works that, for whatever reason, convey something sharply and definingly redolent of a particular aspect or mood of the time in which they were written. But just as such texts bear clearly the influence of a particular period in time, they themselves, in a symbiotic relationship of mutual co-influence between literature and cultural history, can in turn contribute to shaping how that age is perceived and understood. The age under examination in this study-unit is the contemporary, which will be taken as the period from 1945 to the present. The questions guiding the seminar discussions are: what are the literary texts 鈥榠n our time鈥� that speak to the moment? How do they do so? And do they, in turn, shape the way we conceive of the contemporary? Due to the contemporary focus of this unit, the literary texts that will be studied in depth will change from year to year. Students will be given a list of compulsory and recommended readings at the beginning of each iteration of the study-unit. Study-Unit Aims: - To guide students through the study of some key contemporary literary works; - To explore the idea of the contemporary in literature; - To investigate and discuss how literature is able to reflect and shape the age in which it is written; - To guide students in researching and writing about contemporary literature; - To provide students with an overview of the literary contemporary and its relationship with culture and politics; - To discuss ways in which culture and politics shape literature. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Discuss in a critically informed way certain key literary texts and their relationship to the contemporary age; - Identify ways in which literature is able to reflect and shape the age in which it is written.; - Discern and discuss the ways in which contemporary culture and politics have shaped -- and continue to shape -- the literature of our time; - Describe, contextualise and evaluate the literary contemporary. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Write critically and persuasively about certain key literary texts and their relationship to with the contemporary age; - Conduct well-sourced and appropriately focused research into contemporary literature in English; - Engage in the critical debates pertaining to the influence of culture and politics on contemporary literature; - Discuss and write about the ways in which literature is able to shape the contemporary's self-understanding. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Acheson, James, The Contemporary British Novel Since 2000. [Not available] - O'Gorman, Daniel and Robert Eaglestone (eds), The Routledge Companion to Twenty-First Century Fiction (London: Routledge, 2019). [Available] Supplementary Readings: - Martin, Theodore, Contemporary Drift (New York: Columbia University Press, 2019). [Not available] - McGurl, Mark, Everything and Less: The Novel in the Age of Amazon (London: Verso, 2021). [Not available] |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Mario Aquilina Ivan Callus James David Corby |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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