module specification

This module is part of the Victorians to Moderns module, which forms the central section of the chronological spine of English Literature modules that also includes Romantics to Victorians and Moderns to Contemporaries. It examines the transformations of English literature and culture occurring during the late-19th to the mid-20th century, with an emphasis on the earlier part of this period. Through the study of literature, philosophy, criticism and the arts, the module develops students’ critical understanding of cultural context and formal innovation in the English literary tradition. The module focuses on intellectual and critical debates relating to the fin-de-siècle. The module is taught by weekly sessions comprising lecture and seminar, supplemented by tutorials, and is assessed by a variety of written coursework.

The module aims to: develop students’ skills of critical analysis through the study of exemplary works from the period; provide a critical account of social, political and cultural developments in the period as a framework for students’ understanding of the role of the imaginative writer in the period; engage students in complex critical and cultural debates that were central to the development of both literature and other art-forms during the period, in Britain and internationally.

Completion and pass (120 credits) of previous level.

The module will broadly follow the chronological development of literary and artistic culture from the late-19th to the mid-20th century, with an emphasis on the earlier part of this period. The discussion of socio-historical, intellectual and aesthetic developments will be conducted through close study of primary texts as well as related academic criticism (LO1, LO2).

Texts studied will include fiction, poetry and drama as well as examples of other art-forms, such as painting and music (LO3).

Topics will typically include Naturalism and the Social Sciences; Psychoanalysis; Spiritualism and the Occult; Decadence and Aestheticism; Technology and the City; Art, Manifesto and Revolt (LO2). Major authors to be studied will typically include Thomas Hardy, Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, W. B. Yeats, as well representatives of American and European literary and artistic movements.

Scheduled teaching ensures that independent study is effective and addresses the learning outcomes and assessment tasks. Students are expected to, and have the opportunity to, continue with their studies outside of scheduled classes. There will be a range of learning strategies deployed and individual learning styles will be accommodated. The module’s learning outcomes, its contents and delivery, have been scrutinised and will be regularly reviewed to ensure an inclusive approach to pedagogic practice.

The module and course utilise the University’s blended learning platform to support and reinforce learning, to foster peer-to-peer communication and to facilitate tutorial support for students. Reflective learning is promoted through assessment items and interim formative feedback points that ask students to reflect on their progress, seek help where they identify the opportunity for improvement in learning strategies and outcomes, and make recommendations to themselves for future development. Throughout the module, students build a body of work, including reflections on progress and achievement.

The School’s programme of employability events and embedded work-related learning within the curriculum supports students’ personal development planning. Through these initiatives, students are increasingly able, as they progress from year to year, to understand the professional environment of their disciplines, the various opportunities available to them, and how to shape their learning according to their ambitions.

On successful completion of this module students will be able to:

Subject specific skills
LO1 demonstrate skills of close textual analysis;

Knowledge and understanding
LO2 identify and analyse major themes and debates of the literature of the period 1880 to 1940 in relation to historical contexts;

Cognitive intellectual abilities
LO3 compare, evaluate and judge cultural production across literary and artistic genres.

Assessment consists of two pieces of written coursework spaced across the module:

• 1000-word evaluative review of an academic essay (LO1)
• 1500-word thematic commentary on a set literary text (LO2, LO3)

Where possible, the most current version of reading materials is used during the delivery of this module.  Comprehensive reading lists are provided to students in their handbooks.  Reading Lists will be updated annually.

Primary texts will include a wide range of literary works from the period.

Core textbooks:
Howarth, P., (2012) The Cambridge Introduction to Modernist Poetry, Cambridge University Press
Kern, S., (2011) The Modernist Novel: A Critical Introduction, Cambridge University Press
Levenson, M. (ed.), (2011) The Cambridge Companion to Modernism, 2nd ed., Cambridge University Press

Other textbooks:
Alexander, N. and Moran, J. (eds.), (2013) Regional Modernisms, Edinburgh University Press
Castle, G., (2015) A History of the Modernist Novel, Cambridge University Press
Cleary, J. (ed.), (2014) The Cambridge Companion to Irish Modernism, Cambridge University Press
Ellman, M., (2010) The Nets of Modernism: Henry James, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, and Sigmund Freud, Cambridge University Press
Hunter, A. (2007) The Cambridge Introduction to the Short Story in English, Cambridge University Press
Hutchinson, G., (2007) The Cambridge Companion to the Harlem Renaissance, Cambridge University Press
Marshall, G. (ed.), (2007) The Cambridge Companion to the Fin de Siecle, Cambridge University Press
Marshik, C. (ed.), (2014) The Cambridge Companion to Modernist Culture, Cambridge University Press
Sherry, V., (2015) Modernism and the Reinvention of Decadence, Cambridge University Press
Tucker, H. F., (2014) A New Companion to Victorian Literature and Culture, Wiley
Wienen, M. W. Van (ed.), (2018) American Literature in Transition 1910-1920, Cambridge University Press
Wilson, L., (2013) Modernism and Magic: Experiments with Spiritualism, Theosophy and the Occult, Edinburgh University Press

Journals:
Modernism/Modernity (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press)
Victorian Studies (Bloomington: Indiana University Press)

Websites:
The Modernist Journals Project http://dl.lib.brown.edu/mjp/

Electronic Databases:
Academic Search Complete
JSTOR