Literary Histories

Code

ENGL4150

School

English

Level

4

Credits

20

Semesters

Autumn UK

Summary

It has often been suggested that the very idea of literary history – of a narrative that understands, classifies, and explains, the English literary past – is an inherent impossibility. The relationship between literature and the history of the time of its creation is an equally vexed and productive question. This module will look at the various ways in which literature in the last few centuries has combined with the study of history, with significant changes in the ways in which works of the past are viewed, and also how histories of literature began to be constructed (a history of literary histories, so to speak) paying attention to such questions as the development of the literary canon, periodicity, inclusions and exclusions, rediscoveries, and lack of representation. It will also look at the ways in which literary biography, autobiography and life-writing relate to the creation of literary histories. This will be a team-taught module, introducing key topics in the area and apply them to a variety of types of literature from different historical periods, and the myriad critical ways in which such literature has been viewed, retrospectively.

Target Students

Only available to on-site postgraduate students in the School of English.

Classes

• One 2-hour seminar each week for 11 weeks

Assessment

• 100% Coursework 1: One 4,000 word essay

Assessed by end of autumn semester

Educational Aims

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding of:

• theoretical frameworks and practical approaches to the study of literature in relation to history
• the historicity of literature and the way in which literature influences our understanding of historical relationships
• relevant concepts and critical positions

Intellectual Skills:

• the ability to think independently while giving due weight to the arguments of others
• the ability to relate texts to their appropriate historical and literary-historical contexts
• the ability to discuss and apply relevant critical or theoretical concepts and terms
• the ability to identify patterns of influence and recurrent themes in a comparative context

Professional/Practical Skills

• the ability to communicate effectively in writing
• the ability to present a logical and sustained argument
• the ability to conduct research, evaluating and employing secondary sources in a scholarly manner

Transferable Skills:

• the ability to communicate research effectively in written and oral presentations
• the ability to conduct self-directed study and research
• the ability to write clearly and comprehensively
• the ability to deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively and to develop sustainable judgements in dialogue with relevant secondary-critical and historical sources

Conveners

• Benjamin Masters