English - Contemporary Literature

Autumn term/trimester 1:

• 'Critical Theory & Methodologies' provides an in-depth analysis of key concepts and debates in contemporary literary and critical theory and offers training in Learning Technology and research skills.
• 'Pulp Visions' explores the fascinating ways in which 'high theory' interacts with 'low culture' through the analysis of a range of popular narratives including popular fiction, film, comics and the graphic novel.
• 'Literary Modernism' examines Modernist writing through selected texts by James Joyce, Katherine Mansfield, Dorothy Richardson and others, in the context of the movement's origins, experimental tendencies, and relation to literary culture.

Spring Term/trimester 2:

• 'Contemporary British Writing' selects an aspect of contemporary British writing such as the historical novel or contemporary Gothic for in-depth discussion and analysis.
• 'Gender & Writing' develops an understanding of literature in the context of critical debates about gender and writing, examining poetry, novels, short stories, and theoretical works by female and male writers from Britain and beyond.
• 'Narrative and the Deviant Body' looks at the representation of marginal or 'deviant' bodies across gender, sexuality, race, and class in American literature since the 1960s.

Summer Term/trimester 3:

'Dissertation module' consists of a presentation on the research proposal (10%) and submission of an 18,000 word dissertation (90%). Additional modules available in 2015 on the part-time route include Brave New Worlds and Postcolonial Literatures.

• 'Brave New Worlds - Utopian and Dystopian Writing (designated)' explores utopian and dystopian writing from Thomas More's Utopia to present day science fiction and cyberpunk.​
• 'Post-colonial Literatures (designated)' examines Australian and Maori writing, South African literature and Asian-British fiction among others with reference to the theory and practice of diasporic writing.​