Unit information: Comparative Literature: What is it and how can we practise it? in 2022/23

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. Alexandra Reza
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	School of Modern Languages
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Unit Information

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:

• To develop students’ understanding of a body of knowledge that is complex, sophisticated and of lasting significance in world culture
• To facilitate students' engagement with a body of literary texts and their intellectual, historical, and cultural contexts as a basis for their own analysis and development
• To develop skills of synthesis, analysis, and independent study
• To develop an understanding of how literary study is of its nature almost always comparative and interdisciplinary.

Your learning on this unit

Successful students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate critical knowledge and understanding of a significant body of world literature;
2. Explain and illustrate the concept and techniques of comparative literature;
3. Synthesise and analyse relevant source and secondary material;
4. Apply skills of independent research and analysis;
5. Respond to questions or problems by presenting written arguments a level of complexity appropriate for level 4/C;
6. Develop oral communication and presentation skills.

How you will learn

• Interactive lecture: 2 hours weekly
• Seminars: 2 hours weekly, in groups of 15-18, including presentations, class discussions and small group work
• Single-honour students will have an additional fortnightly one-hour tutorial on material related to the unit, but not assessed

How you will be assessed

There will be two forms of assessment:

• 1 x group presentation (30%) [ILOS 1-3 and 6].
• 1 x 2000-word essay (70%) [ILOs 1-5].

Resources

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.