This module examines two ancient literary genres (for instance, lyric and epigram, tragedy and dialogue, epinician/encomium and oratory, or lyric and historiography) in order to study the workings of genre in Greco-Roman antiquity. Students will examine the processes of imitation and allusion through which authors situate themselves within a particular literary mode; analyse points of contact at which motifs cross over between genres; examine the reception and reshaping of various generic features in antiquity; analyse the adaptation of generic features to the needs and aims of each author; investigate the process through which each genre might have been identified in antiquity; and survey selected scholarship on the functioning and conceptualisation of ancient genre.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module students should be able to:
Demonstrate a reflective understanding of the historical development, principal authors, and main formal and thematic characteristics of two ancient literary genres;
Critically evaluate scholarly methodologies applicable to the critical study of genre in antiquity;
Analyse and interpret points of contact between ancient literary genres;
Analyse and critically evaluate the motives and methods of the authors studied in their use of genre.
Assessment
37119-01 : 2,500 word commentary : Coursework (50%)
37119-02 : 2,500 word essay : Coursework (50%)
