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Contemporary Scottish Fiction (U03934)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : LLC-4-U03934

This course seeks to acknowledge and explore the tremendous wealth of contemporary Scottish writing, understood as that which has been produced since the mid 1980s. The course takes as its starting point the formal innovations of James Kelman’s fiction, on the basis that his work makes available a range of strategies which liberate Scottish writing from many of the concerns which had dominated most of the twentieth century. However, while the course aims to luxuriate in that new formal and thematic freedom, it will also seek to link it to a consideration of the restructuring of the field of literary production in the period, which threatens to domesticate such strategies. The course will aim to give a flavour of the contemporary literary field in Scotland, looking at bestselling and less celebrated works, examining texts whose narrative strategies push the psychological and pathological dimensions of the novel to its limits, but also novels which conform to generic expectations. Does capitulating to generic demands negate the critical potential of the writer, as Kelman has argued? Or does the blurring of boundaries between literary and genre fiction represent the liberation of both writer and audience from literary convention?

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 in the 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 Enlgish 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 : Semester 2 (Blocks 3-4)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 11 weeks

? Other Required Attendance : 1 hour(s) per week for 11 weeks

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Thursday	09:00	10:50	Central

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course students should expect to be able to demonstrate their familiarity with a range of contemporary Scottish writers and to critically evaluate their work considered against its social and cultural background. Students should be able to discuss the political and ethical dimensions of narrative technique and genre, and suggest why particular works adopt specific formal strategies.