Archived Version

The Degree Regulations and Programmes of Study has been formulated as a dynamic online publication in order to provide the most up to date information possible. Master versions of the Degree Regulations and Programmes of Study incorporating all changes to date are archived twice a year on 1 September and within the first three University working days prior to the start of Semester 2 in January. Please note that some of the data recorded about this course has been amended since the last master version was archived. That version should be consulted to determine the changes made.

view archived version

Modernity and the Discourse of Discovery 1550-1740 (U01999)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : LLC-3-U01999

This course aims to examine the production of representations of early modern culture in the period between 1550-1740 by exploring a number of texts published during this time. The course begins by introducing a number of theoretical perspectives upon the relationship between colonial narratives and the production of early modern cultural history. The work of Michel de Certeau, Michel Foucault, Stephen Greenblatt, Laura Brown and Homi Bhabha will figure here. It then develops these insights in the context of seven key early modern texts: Thomas More's Utopia; John Milton's Paradise Lost; William Shakespeare's The Tempest; Aphra Benn's Oronooko; Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe; Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock; and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.

Entry Requirements

? Pre-requisites : Passes in English or Scottish Literature 1 and English or Scottish or American Literature 2, with a mark of 50 or above at the first attempt in the second year course.

? Special Arrangements for Entry : Numbers are limited and students taking degrees not involving English or Scottish literature need the written approval of the head of English Literature

? Costs : Essential course texts

Subject Areas

Home subject area

English Literature, (School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, Schedule G)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 3rd year

? Delivery Period : To be arranged/Unknown

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

? Other Required Attendance : 1 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

Students who successfully completet the course will enhance their knowledge of the literature of the period, with specific regard to a number of major genres and intellectual issues. They will be equipped to explore for themselves the meaning of cultural 'modernity' and, in particular, the links between the emergence of 'modern' philosophical discourse in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and the development of new political and cultural formations. It will enhance their ability to read critically and comparatively and to engage with an area of specialist research not otherwise available to students at Edinburgh.