Course info

Twentieth-century literature in English is the imaginative expression of writers from many parts of the world.  The works you will study over the course of two semesters are selected to reflect the diversity and global reach of English as a literary language.  Together they tell a number of stories about literature in English and about various national literatures and the contexts in which they were written.  Literature is not written in a vacuum but instead reflects and comments on the historical, social and cultural events of the time.  Literature is, in many ways, a creative response to history and both should be studied fully to comprehend the other.

In the second of a two-semester series of courses in twentieth-century literature in English, we will examine British, Irish and American texts that represent the decline of traditional culture in the face of modernisation and, indeed, the impact of modernity on human consciousness.  You will learn to recognise the difference between the traditional and the modern in the way they refer to historical contexts in Britain and the USA and to the formal qualities of literary works.  The shadow of the Second World War will fall on much of the literature we read this semester and there will be a particular emphasis on the place of language in society. You will see that some of the writers we read this semester will sum up certain important aspects of the period, religious doubt, alienation, the end of civilisation, and point towards new ways of thinking.  The events of the two world wars, the Holocaust and the atomic bomb are all essential to an understanding of the human condition in the twentieth century and the beginnings of the twenty-first century.

Over the course of the semester you will develop your understanding of the relationship between form, meaning and context.  You will study the materials described while exercising literary reading strategies you have learnt.  You will, of course, practice English skills, including listening, speaking, reading and writing.  Developing an argument in English will be especially important in writing and oral assignments.

You will write one essay and one final examination and you will also be assessed through classroom discussion and participation.

 

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)

CILO-1: Demonstrate knowledge of literary form and its relationship to relevant contexts in the second half of the twentieth century and early twenty-first century.

CILO-2: Plan and execute the research project within the area of literature in English in the second half of the twentieth century and early twenty-first century.

CILO-3: Identify, gather, and organize information and materials related to presentations, the course essay, and other writings.

CILO-4: Develop and apply technological skills in online searches and retrieval, bibliographical database management and data entry, and in using presentational software such as PowerPoint and other applications, as appropriate.