This module offers students the opportunity to engage with a range of literatures in English, written between c. 1945 and the present. Texts from the UK, North America and elsewhere in the Anglophone world will be explored from a variety of perspectives and students will be encouraged to employ a range of methodological, theoretical and critical approaches that allow the literary works to be situated within diverse social and artistic contexts.
The module will consist of three units. Each will be determined by either thematic/theoretical contexts or by regional frameworks. Possible units may, for example, address multiculturalism in contemporary British writing, contemporary Canadian writing, South African writing today and Postmodernism.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module students should be able to:
Demonstrate a sophisticated knowledge and understanding of a range of literary texts produced since around 1945.
Synthesise an opinion on contemporary literary cultures in relation to the ideas explored within the module's units.
Analyse and evaluate literary texts in relation to contemporary conditions of textual production and circulation.
Appraise and critically assess recent relevant criticism and theory.
Summarise, analyse and evaluate the principal bibliographical resources (both print and electronic) relevant to this field to support coursework and independent research.
