ENG-20088 - Module Specification
School of Humanities
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2024/25

How can literary theories and approaches help to open up new readings of literary texts? Does a feminist see different things in a text than a formalist? What about a new historian, a postcolonialist, or a literary geographer? On this module you will study, employ and evaluate a range of important literary theories, methods and approaches with respect to literary texts from different periods.

To study selected literary texts with reference to important methods and approaches in literary and cultural theory.
To enable students to reflect on the social contexts and political ideologies that have informed the production of literary texts.
To provide students with a knowledge of various critical frameworks (cultural and literary) such as feminist theory, postmodernism and postcolonialism, and to develop an ability to work with these as part of an independent critical practice.
To enable students to appreciate and analyse the emergence and significance of different literary styles.
To account for the importance of gender, class, sexual and racial identities in the literature covered on the module.

Intended Learning Outcomes

identify and evaluate the usefulness of critical approaches and theories such as formalism, poststructuralism, new historicism, postcolonialism, gender studies, book history, and literature and space: 1,2
apply to literary analysis the traits of critical approaches and theories such as formalism, poststructuralism, new historicism, postcolonialism, gender studies, book history, and literature and space: 1,2
construct and support a theoretically informed argument in written work: 2
demonstrate ability to précis a complex theoretical text: 1

Study hours

lectures (12 hours)
supervised workshops (12 hours)
small group classes (11 hours)
individual consultation/feedback (1 hour)
seminar preparation and private study (66 hours)
essay writing and preparation (40 hours)
formative exercise preparation and writing (8 hours)

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment