Contemporary British Fiction

Code

ENGL3065

School

English

Level

3

Credits

20

Semesters

Autumn UK

Summary

The focus of this module is British fiction from the late twentieth century onwards. Discussion will concentrate on the formal operations and innovations of selected writers, and will be underpinned by a consideration of how the contemporary socio-historical context influences these questions of form. Indicative topics might include: an interrogation of the post-consensus novel; an exploration of postcolonial texts; and the cultural politics of late twentieth-century and twenty-first century national literatures. The module will attend to the network of relationships between context, content and form, supported by related literary and cultural theory and philosophy.
Contemporary Fiction is focused on writing emergent from Britain and closely-related contexts in the post-war period. The module offers strands structured around a number of political, social and cultural frameworks in Britain. These include, but are not limited to:

• Formal analysis and literary innovations in Britain    
• Temporalities and the representation of time    
• Issues of gender, race and class    
• Histories of colonialism and slavery    
• National traditions and politics of state    
• The country and the city    
• Postmodernism   

This module is particularly attentive to the network of relationships between context, content and form, supported by related literary and cultural theory and philosophy.

Target Students

Only available for final-year students on SH and JH English programmes; including 2+2 programmes; students participating in exchanges from the School partner institutions; and final-year students on the Liberal Arts programme.

Classes

• One 1-hour seminar each week for 11 weeks
• One 2-hour lecture each week for 11 weeks

Assessment

• 40% Coursework 1: Coursework 1 - Mid-semester 1,500 word exercise
• 60% Coursework 2: Coursework 2 - End-semester 2,500 word essay

Assessed by end of autumn semester

Educational Aims

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and understanding of:

•  The work of key practitioners
•  The relevance of developments in the novel to the broader cultural context
•  The relationship between form and content in works on the module
•  The political function of disciplinary ‘English Literature’, and relationship between literary studies and politics/sociology/cultural studies.
   

Intellectual Skills:

•  The ability to think independently while giving due weight to the arguments of others
•  The ability to compare, evaluate and debate literary and theoretical viewpoints
•  The ability to apply critical thinking and contextual information to the analysis of particular texts

Professional Practice Skills:

•  The ability to write accurately, and to present written material using conventions appropriate to literary study.
•  The ability to construct and communicate a sustained analysis
•  The ability to originate well-informed and substantiated literary arguments

Transferable key skills:

•  The ability to communicate effectively in written work
•  The ability to reflect upon and assess progress
•  The ability to demonstrate independence of thought and judgement
•  The ability to communicate effectively in writing
•  The ability to reflect upon and assess progress.

Conveners

• Dr Joel Evans