Module description
This module thinks about the relationship between literary texts and their precursors. The module moves from the ancient world of classical Greece, Rome and the Middle East to the present day. Our focus will be transhistorical, however, not chronological. We will introduce you to some of the ways in which writers speak to one another across and through time, considering what it means for a writer to invoke other literary texts in their work. We will explore different theoretical models for thinking about this relationship, moving beyond ideas of influence to instead consider more creative ways in which texts have existed in relation to one another. The module challenges the idea of a literary ‘tradition’, and throughout we will consider why some texts seem to endure (and others do not). We study some texts considered canonical – the ancient Greek tragedy Antigone, part of Beowulf, some plays by Shakespeare, – and many texts that have at times been less widely read – the writings of Olaudah Equiano and Phyllis Wheatley, for instance. Most of all, we will be interested in the connections between works, in seeing how the texts of the past are changed by those of later periods, as well as how later periods reimagine the texts of the past.
The module is team-taught and covers a wide historical and geographical reach. We will be reading writers from a wide array of different backgrounds, paying detailed attention to questions of gender, race and social class throughout. While the course aims to familiarize students with some of the key myths that underpin literatures written in English, this is a module firmly committed to a version of that literature which represents the full diversity of voices writing in the language.
Assessment details
Portfolio (written tasks totalling not more than 2000 words plus non-written tasks) (100%)
Teaching pattern
One hour lecture and one hour seminar weekly
Suggested reading list
- William Shakespeare, Hamlet
- Virgil Aeneid, Book 2 (The Fall of Troy)