Texts in Context: British Fiction in the Changing World

obligatory courses

Classroom

Classes complement the diploma seminar, focusing on British fictions which are placed within the social and cultural contexts. Classes cover in detail themes in which students are currently conducting research in order to write a diploma thesis, and examine original sources in this connection. They therefore deal with specific themes arising under their specific subject of research. The reading list will reflect the students' individual research interests.

Classes complement the diploma seminar, focusing on British fictions which are placed within the social and cultural contexts. Classes cover in detail themes in which students are currently conducting research in order to write a diploma thesis, and examine original sources in this connection. They therefore deal with specific themes arising under their specific subject of research. The reading list will reflect the students' individual research interests.

The focus of discussion will be on the intertextual and cultural connections of the texts with both past and present contexts. Attention will be paid to the changing perception of the given work from the moment of its publication to the present, as well as contemporary works which address literary, cultural and historical issues (e.g. Neo-Victorian fictions). Key topics covered will include identity and self-perception; history and memory; dystopia and posthumanism; monstrosity theory. Finally, the course will address the connections between the texts of the “canon” and re-inventions and adaptations around it, including fanfiction.

Examples of primary sources (to be adapted ac. to students’ preferences):

- Susanna Clarke, “Ladies of the Grace Adieu”

- Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient

- John Banville, Birchwood

- Salmon Rushdie, The Moor’s Last Sigh

- Angela Carter, Nights at the Circus

- David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

- Ian McEwan, Machines Like Me

- Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre / Joan Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea / Angela Carter “The Bloody Chamber” / Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca

Secondary sources:

- Badmington, Neil, Posthumanism, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2000.

- Bassnett, Susan, "Reflections on Comparative Literature in the Twenty-First Century," Comparative Critical Studies 3, no. 1-2 (2006): 3-11.

- Caruth, Cathy, ed., Trauma: Explorations in Memory, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995.

- Caruth, Cathy, Unclaimed Experience: Trauma, Narrative and History, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996.

- Fathallah, Judith, Fanfiction and the Author: How Fanfic Changes Popular Cultural Texts, Amsterdam University Press, 2017.

- Hellekson, Karen and Kristina Busse, eds., The Fan Fiction Studies Reader, University of Iowa Press, 2014.

- Herman, Judith, Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror, Basic Books, 1997

- Lybeck, Eleanor, “Revisionist nostalgia: John Banville, Angela Carter, and the circus,” Textual Practice 36, no. 11 (2021): 1850-1867.

- McMillan, Callum T.F., Posthumanism in Digital Culture: Cyborgs, Gods and Fandom, Emerald Publishing, 2021.

- Pollock, Mary S., “Angela Carter's animal tales: Constructing the non-human”, Lit: Literature Interpretation Theory 11:1 (2000): 35-57.

- Pyrhönen, Heta, “Imagining the impossible: the erotic poetics of Angela Carter's ‘Bluebeard’ stories,” Textual Practice 21, no.1 (2007): 93-111.

- Radstone, Susannah and Katharine Hodgkin, Regimes of Memory, Routledge, 2003.

- Stets, Jan E., Philip S. Brenner, Richard T. Serpe, Identities in Action: Developments in Identity Theory, Springer, 2021.

- Wood, Andrea and Brandy Schillace, eds., Unnatural Reproductions and Monstrosity: The Birth of the Monster in Literature, Film, and Media, Cambria Press, 2014.

- Zunshine, Lisa, “Theory of Mind and Experimental Representations of Fictional Consciousness,” Narrative 11, no. 3 (2003): 270-291.

- Zunshine, Lisa, “How Memories Become Literature,” SubStance 51, no. 3 (2022): 92-114.

Knowledge

Students will be able to:

K_W04 Characterize on an advanced level the principles of research design in literary and culture studies with special focus on the application of methods and tools in formulating research problems, particularly in relation to literary fictions in various contexts;

K_W06 Characterise economic, legal and other factors relevant for various kinds of professional activities related to the study programme, i.e., in the texts and cultural/social/political contexts studied

Abilities

Students will be able to:

K_U01 Apply advanced terminology and notions pertinent to the literary studies, for e.g. literary theory frameworks applicable to students’ research projects

K_U02 Apply advanced research methodology within literary and culture studies and English studies, respecting ethical norms and copyright law, particularly while selecting, quoting and paraphrasing sources for students’ presentations and research projects

K_U05 Discern alternative methodological paradigms within a discipline, by close reading and contextual study of fictional works through various perspectives

K_U07 Use modern technology in the process of learning and communicating with academic teachers, colleagues, representatives of various institutions and fellow participants in classes and projects, applying various channels and techniques of communication, in particular in the process of gathering and sharing information connected with the British Fiction in the Changing World.

Social competences

Students will be ready to:

K_K03 Take responsibility for performing one’s professional duties, with due respect for the work of others, obey and develop the ethical norms in professional and academic settings related to the disciplines included on the curriculum of English studies, particularly in preparation of assignments, in class discussion connected with the course.

Education at language level B2+.

- attendance: 10%

- participation in discussions: 25%

- presentations / projects: 35%

- written or oral test: 30%

2 absences are allowed.