Module description
The modernist period was characterized by political, social, technological and cultural revolution. This module introduces students to a range of writing from the first half of the twentieth century by considering how this period of change can be read in the textual experiments of modernist writers. How did these writers engage with and represent radical shifts in the politics of race, class and gender? Our focus on ‘mapping’ modernism will lead to consideration of the material spaces (urban, public, domestic) which generated and facilitated cultural production as well as the transnational and postcolonial networks within which these writers moved. The module also investigates how the field of modernist studies has been ‘mapped’ by looking at the shifting critical paradigms through which modernist texts have been conceptualized.
As preparation for this module, you might like to read an introductory book on modernism (eg Tim Armstrong’s Modernism or Jane Goldman’s Modernism: Image to Apocalypse).
Assessment details
Coursework
1 x 3000 word written assignment
Educational aims & objectives
To provide an understanding of selected works of modernist literature across a range of genres; the political, social and historical contexts in which this work was written and has been read; theoretical work on modernism and space.
By the end of the module the student will be able to demonstrate practical and intellectual skills appropriate to a level 5 module and in particular they will be able to;
- Analyse and critically evaluate a range of modernist writing across a range of genres.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the political, historical and social contexts in which that work was written.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the changing nature of modernist studies.
- Gather, synthesise and analyse research materials for both weekly readings and module assessment.
- Produce a 3000 word written assignment using an appropriate range of research materials.
- Articulate ideas within a seminar environment
Teaching pattern
One lecture and one seminar weekly
Suggested reading list
Mirrlees, Hope, ‘Paris: a poem’ in Collected Poems. ed. Sandeep Parmar. Carcanet, 2012 Mansfield, Katherine, Selected Stories. Oxford World's Classics, 2008 Greenwood, Walter. Love on the Dole, Vintage, 1993. Larsen, Nella. Passing, Penguin, 2003 Lawrence, DH. Lady Chatterley’s Lover, ed. Michael Squires. Penguin, 2000 McKay, Claude. Home to Harlem, The X Press, 2000 Rhys, Jean. Good Morning, Midnight, Penguin, 2000 Woolf, Virginia. Between the Acts, ed. Gillian Beer, Penguin, 2000