English – Contemporary Literature MA Welcome Pack

​​Introduction to Autumn Modules and Reading Lists

​Please see below for a brief introduction to the modules which will be running in the autumn semester and some reading to get you started.

• If you are a full-time student you will be studying both of these modules, if you are part time and in year 1 you will be studying LITM033 only.
• If you are part time and in year 2 you will be studying LITM042 only

​​LITM033 Critical Theory and Methodologies

• ​Module Leader: Dr Claire Allen
• ​Module Tutors: Dr Claire Allen, Dr Richard Chamberlain, Dr Michael Starr

Introduction:

​‘Theory’ has become an inevitable part of English Studies, a standard ingredient over the last thirty years in undergraduate degrees and in the discourse of criticism. In the process it has also altered the relation of ‘English’ to other areas in the humanities and beyond. Nevertheless, there have been persistent questions about theory’s relevance to what is deemed to be the central activity of reading and interpretation of literary and cultural texts. How should we read and use theory? Why is it so ‘difficult’? What do we gain from it? Should we think not of ‘Theory’ but of ‘theories’ in lower case and in the plural? Is there a realm of pre-theory or non-theory, or have we now entered a world of post-theory?

​We shall be raising such questions directly at the outset of the module and throughout the sessions.

​We have chosen to examine a range of especially influential sets of ideas or theoretical ‘movements’, including the Frankfurt School, structuralism, post- structuralism and reader-response theory, deconstruction, psychoanalysis, postmodernism, postcolonialism, feminism and queer theory. These enable us to consider questions of textuality, history, gender and sexuality, and the broad, changing relation of cultural forms to contemporary society. Throughout the module, we will be exploring the helpfulness of these ideas in performing critical readings of Angela Carter’s novel, The Magic Toyshop, amongst other texts and media.

​Those teaching on the module do not take identical positions on these themes or the questions sketched above. Nor do we expect students necessarily to agree with ourselves or each other. What we do share, however, is a commitment to a clear understanding of challenging ideas and to the value of informed and critical dialogue. This will govern the pedagogic aims, structure and style of the module. We hope and assume, finally, that you will gain from an acquaintance with the ideas and agendas introduced in the module, a sense of how these can shape or reshape your reading, and, above all, help develop a confident critical practice of your own.

The module will also explore the importance of methodologies in postgraduate study and research, and the interconnections between theory and methodology.

​Primary Text:

• Angela Carter, The Magic Toy Shop (please make sure you have read this before the module begins. Please bring your copy of the novel every week)

​In each seminar we will be discussing the theoretical ideas for that week, which will be provided as an online resource on Nile; Angela Carter’s The Magic Toyshop (1967) will frequently (but not always!) be used as the basis of theoretical explications and discussion. Please bring your copy of the novel every week. You will be required to read one or two critical/theoretical essays in preparation for each week. You will need to make sure that you have access to these, either in print or online. The required pieces of secondary reading will be available to you on Nile. There is no need to read these before you start the course.

• If you are new to literary theory, you might find the below a useful starting point: ​Peter Barry, Beginning Theory (Manchester University Press), 2009.

​LITM042 Shakespeare our Contemporary: Text and Screen

• ​Module Leader and Tutor: Dr Richard Chamberlain

​Introduction

On this module we will be looking at a range of novels and films which respond to Shakespeare as a way of making sense of the contemporary world. These responses, and what ‘Shakespeare’ is taken to mean, vary widely, which should make for a rich and interesting field of study.

​I have arranged the texts and films in an approximate running order, giving you some idea of what to read and watch first, although this is still open to change.

​The films listed will all be available through the Box of Broadcasts database (which you can access for free with your university login once you have completed enrolment).

In seminars, we will be looking at extracts from some other films or TV as context, but there is no need to watch those in advance.

​We will have an introductory seminar to start with, discussing some key theories and issues.

​Primary Reading/Viewing List

• Julie Taymor, Dir., The Tempest. Miramax, 2010. (Film)
• ​Elizabeth Nunez, Prospero’s Daughter. Akashic Books, 2006; reissued 2016.
• Margaret Atwood, Hag-Seed: William Shakespeare’s The Tempest Retold. Hogarth Shakespeare, 2016.
• ​Catherine Bush, Blaze Island. Goose Lane Editions, 2020.
• Claire McCarthy, Dir., Ophelia. Covert Media, 2018. (Film)
• ​Ian McEwan, Nutshell. Vintage, 2016.
• ​Preti Taneja, We That Are Young. Galley Beggar Press, 2017.
• ​Julia Drake, The Last True Poets of the Sea. Disney-Hyperion, 2019.
• ​Maggie O’Farrell, Hamnet. Tinder Press, 2021.
• ​Kenneth Branagh, Dir., All is True. Sony Pictures, 2018. (Film) ​​