The Novel in Scotland and Ireland (U02721)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : LLC-4-EL0143

This course will examine the ways in which writers in Scotland and Ireland used the novel to negotiate their problematic situation within the British Empire, their relationship to history, and in doing so brought Enlightenment thinking about society into the novel.

It will look at, among other things, the difference between the (mostly female-authored) "National Tale" in Ireland, and the (mostly male-authored) "Historical Novel" in Scotland; the social and political reasons for these differences; and the debt of the latter to the former. It will examine the development of the conception of national identity as cultural inheritance in these novels, and the relation between Scottish or Irish identity thus constructed and a British identity into which they are subsumed.

Entry Requirements

? This course is not available to visting students.

? 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 int he second year course. Passes in third year courses in the subject area amounting to at least 40 credits.

? 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 : 4th 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 will be familiar with issues surrounding the novel as a genre, its relation to realism and to romance, its relation to history and modernity, and its role in defining gendered subject positions within society. They will be able to place novels in the particular historical circumstances of Scotland and Ireland in the period, and the various ideological purposes that the novel could serve in those circumstances.