2008/09 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

ENGL3999 Literature of the 1890s

20 creditsClass Size: 30

School of English

Module manager: Dr Julia Reid
Email: j.reid@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2008/09

This module is not approved as an Elective

Objectives

On completion of this module, students should be able to recognise and to comment on the major literary features of the period, including decadentism, fantasy writing, the feminist writing of the New Woman, naturalist fiction, the short story, and the New Drama. In so doing, they will also have to consider the relationship between popular and 'high' culture at this time, the importance of new printing technologies, and the new audiences thus created. In this module, texts will be read alongside and in the light of contemporary social and political developments, both in Britain and overseas. These include colonialism, homosexuality and women's rights. Students will be encouraged to explore the broader issues of the relationship between text and context in the light of the particularities of this period. Finally, we will explore the 1890s and its literature in the light of their transitional status, and as a bridge between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Learning outcomes
Students will have developed:
the ability to use written and oral communication effectively;
the capacity to analyse and critically examine diverse forms of discourse;
the ability to manage quantities of complex information in a structured and systematic way;
the capacity for independent thought and judgement;
critical reasoning;
research skills, including the retrieval of information, the organisation of material and the evaluation of its importance;
IT skills;
efficient time management and organisation skills;
the ability to learn independently.

Skills outcomes
Skills for effective communication, oral and written.
Capacity to analyse and critically examine diverse forms of discourse.
Ability to acquire quantities of complex information of diverse kinds in a structured and systematic way.
Capacity for independent thought and judgement.
Critical reasoning.
Research skills, including information retrieval skills, the organisation of material, and the evaluation of its importance.
IT skills.
Time management and organisational skills.
Independent learning.

Syllabus

In the 1890s, literature was responsible for popularising the ideas and practices of the European decadence which caused Britain to fear its own descent into an irretrievable degenerative state. This module sets out to explore the major preoccupations of the Victorian fin de siecle as they are articulated through some of its most famous and infamous literary texts. Issues with which we will deal include degeneration and decadence, the New Woman, disease and the fin de siecle body, the detective figure, marriage, the metropolis, homosexuality and androgyny, the figure of the working woman, and the place of religion in the 1890s. We will also consider the status of popular literature and the challenge it posed to ideas of the canon, and in so doing will identify the major literary features of the period, including decadentism, fantasy writing, the feminist writing of the New Woman, naturalist fiction, the short story, and the New Drama.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Meetings	5	1.00	5.00
Seminar	10	1.00	10.00
Private study hours			185.00
Total Contact hours			15.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Private study

Teaching will be through weekly seminars (10 x 1 hour) plus up to 5 additional hours (content to be determined by the module tutor). The 5 additional hours may include lectures, plenary sessions, film showings, or the return of unassessed/assessed essays.

Private Study: Seminar preparation, reading, essay writing.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Contribution to seminars.

1 x 1700 word unassessed essay (Week 7)

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	4000 words	100.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

One unassessed essay of 1700 words is required. This does not form part of the assessment for this module, but is a requirement and MUST be submitted. Students who fail to submit the unassessed essay will be awarded a maximum mark of 40 for the module (a bare Pass).

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 24/04/2008

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