Modern Literature and Theory 1

Module code: EN7031

Module co-ordinator: to be confirmed

This module demonstrates how literary analysis can be enhanced through the consideration of genre (the Caribbean short story), to highlight the treatment of modern issues in literature (AIDS), and to critically assess developments in literary criticism (postcolonial and feminist theory). The module encourages students to engage in close reading and to situate texts in their sociohistorical context.

The module is divided into three sections. The first, 'The Caribbean Short Story', considers the part that the short story played in the emergence of a Caribbean literary tradition and analyses how the Caribbean form of this genre differs from its European counterpart. The second section, 'AIDS Narratives', examines the ways in which literary and visual representations of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in America reveal attitudes to sexuality, gender, and illness. The final section, 'Women’s Travel Writing and Feminist Postcolonial Theory', explores the challenges of theorising women's travel writing about Afghanistan, Fiji, and West Africa by drawing on influential feminist postcolonial thinkers such as Gayatri Spivak, Sara Mills, Meyda Yegenoglu, and Reina Lewis.

Learning

There will be nine two-hour seminars. Students may be expected to make presentations at some point in the module.

By the end of the module, students will be able to...

  • Comment on how and why a genre develops in particular ways in a particular time and place
  • Identify the central concerns of the Caribbean short story
  • Identify and analyse the themes and issues raised by AIDS narratives
  • Critically analyse, and compare and contrast, the textual strategies employed by different AIDS narratives
  • Demonstrate a knowledge of a range of postcolonial feminist approaches to theorising women's travel writing and engage with key debates
  • Critically assess the usefulness of theory to literary criticism
  • Analyse the themes and formal characteristics of the texts studied

Assessment

  • Two 2,500-word essays, each on a specific section of the module; the higher of the two marks will count for 70% of the module mark and the lower for 30%

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