| CODE | ENG5080 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | The Post-Literary | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | English | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | What is the post-literary? This study-unit looks some of the different ways in which an increasingly topical term 鈥� and concept 鈥� can be understood. After considering why the post-literary does not simply designate a time, or condition, that could be perceived as marking 鈥榓fter literature鈥� or 鈥榚nd of literature鈥� circumstances, the lectures in this unit will identify some of the moments in literary history that might be characterised as prefiguring post-literary understandings and/or coincide with the sociocultural emergence of the category of 鈥榣iterature鈥� itself. This allows for some tracing of evolving conceptualisations of the literary, across history and cultures, and serves as an important prelude to the closer focus on current critical reflections on the post-literary and its own rapidly evolving definitions. Among the issues discussed are varying understandings of the 鈥榩ost-print鈥� condition, 鈥榣iterature鈥檚 elsewheres鈥�, 鈥榣iteraturelessness鈥�, and various perceivably post-literary affordances arising as a result of AI technologies. The issues are discussed with reference to specific 鈥榯exts鈥� (a word itself in ongoing redefinition) that might be classed as post-literary 鈥� whether they occur in straightforwardly recognisable forms of print literature or, for instance, as part of Electronic Literature鈥檚 emerging canons or through AI-mediated forms. Reference is made in the lectures to the various journals, book series, monographs and institutional spaces that directly address the post-literary, whether it is framed under that label or otherwise. There will also be an opportunity for students to discuss and involve themselves in CounterText: A Journal for the Study of the Post-Literary, which is edited within the Department of English at the University of Malta. Study-Unit Aims: - To introduce students to increasingly topical and rapidly evolving ideas and concepts around the post-literary; - To introduce students to some of the literary works that might be identified as post-literary; - To offer seminar space in which post-literary work and the critical reflections around it can be discussed; - To offer analysis and critique of the post-literary, in both its critical formulations and across its diverse creative practices. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Appreciate the topicality and trenchancy of discussions around the post-literary; - Discuss important examples of works that might be classed as post-literary, and of their thematics, forms and poetics; - Write in an informed way about critiques and theorisations around the post-literary. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Discern examples 鈥� and variegations 鈥� of the post-literary; - Deploy critical discourse, idiom and terminologies around discussions of the post-literary; - Write appreciations and critique of post-literary work and culture in a manner consistent with postgraduate research, and reflecting; - Relate discussions in and around the post-literary to broader debates in literary studies and the humanities. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - CounterText: A Journal for the Study of the Post-Literary (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2015-present). [Available] Supplementary Readings: - Boxall, Peter, The Prosthetic Imagination: A History of the Novel as Artificial Life (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020). [Not available] - Cave, Stephen, Dihal Canta, and Sarah Dillon (eds), AI Narratives: A History of Imaginative Thinking about Intelligent Machines (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020). [Not available] - Gilbert, Annette, Literature鈥檚 Elsewheres (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2022). [Not available] - Hayles, N. Katherine, Postprint: Books and Becoming Computational (New York: Columbia University Press, 2021). [Not available] - Rettberg, Scott, Electronic Literature (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2019). [Available] - Shields, David, Reality Hunger (New York: Knopf, 2010) [Not available] |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||||||
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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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