| Unit name | Literature's Children |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ENGL39015 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Passey |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Department of English |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit is an introduction to the figure of the child in literature and culture from the nineteenth century onwards. It considers the child as character and implied reader in texts for a range of audiences, reflecting on the development of children's fiction as a distinct mode in the nineteenth century and the emergence of Young Adult fiction in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. How has children's fiction developed over time? How has the implied child audience changed? And how is the figure of the child represented differently across sources, periods, and genres?
This unit introduces students to the emergence of the study of children's literature as a field and its major debates and movements. It locates childhood as a site for exploring broader cultural and ideological questions and investigates the narrative and literary techniques used to frame and conceive of the literary child. Students will explore literary and theoretical texts concerning the child figure through a range of frameworks, such as psychoanalysis and theories of childhood sexuality and subjectivity; print history and publishing cultures; media technologies and visual cultures; childhood evil, morality, and monstrosity; genre fiction, fantasy, and the magical child; pedagogy, didactic modes, and the ways children learn about the world; gender and social conditioning; children's literature and the ethical responsibilities of the author; diversity (or lack thereof) in children's media; the emergence of the adolescent; and the ideological function of children's literature.
Students will be given the opportunity to submit a draft or outline of their final, summative essay of up to 1,500 words and to receive feedback on this.
On completing the course, students should be able to:
Teaching will involve asynchronous and synchronous elements, including group discussion, research and writing activities, and peer dialogue. Students are expected to engage with the reading and participate fully with the weekly tasks and topics. Learning will be further supported through the opportunity for individual consultation.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. ENGL39015).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
