Unit name | Comparative Literature: What is it and how can we practise it? |
---|---|
Unit code | MODL10016 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | C/4 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
Unit director | Dr. McClelland |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | School of Modern Languages |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit will be taught by Dr Richard McClelland
This unit is a comprehensive introduction to the discipline and methods of comparative literature. It introduces some of the key concepts and practical issues via literary works of major significance from the classical age to the present day, using one or more such works (in a variety of genres) as practical examples in each teaching session. In its modern understanding comparative literature is a wide-ranging discipline that explores the ways in which literature (both canonical and popular) interacts with its contexts, literary, historical, philosophical, intermedial and others.
All works and background material will be available in English so a knowledge of a classical or modern foreign language is not necessary for this unit. However, students with foreign language skills will be encouraged to read in the original languages where appropriate and be given opportunities to deploy these skills in their assessed work.
The precise topics chosen for lectures and seminars will vary year on year depending on staff availability, but it is envisaged that the course will always cover national literatures vs. comparative / world literature; transcultural perspectives (postcolonial, global Anglophone, hemispheric studies); gender and literature (comparative literature and women’s writing / queer studies, etc.); influence; intertextuality; translation and transmediality (film / illustration / music / adaptation).
Unit aims:
Successful students will be able to:
There will be two forms of assessment:
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. MODL10016).
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 Faculty 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. If you have self-certificated your absence from an
assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.