Undergraduate Course: Modern Scottish Fiction (ENLI10201)

Course Outline
School	School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures	College	College of Humanities and Social Science
Course type	Standard	Availability	Available to all students
Credit level (Normal year taken)	SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate)	Credits	20
Home subject area	English Literature	Other subject area	None
Course website	http://www.englit.ed.ac.uk/studying/undergrd/honours/4year/index.htm	Taught in Gaelic?	No
Course description	This course examines selected works of fiction by Scottish writers from the 1930s to the early 1980s. It is intended to act as a bridge between the Renaissance of the 1920s, focused around the figures of MacDiarmid and Gibbon, and the development of a distinctively contemporary Scottish literature in the 1980s, examining a set of concerns which can be seen to culminate in the work of Alasdair Gray. The focus is on ?literary? rather than genre fiction, and the course seeks to explore a range of the various formal strategies available to writers of the period. In particular the course will examine the interaction between the demand for artistic ?realism? in the name of political expediency and longer standing artistic commitments to mythic and romance modes of storytelling, the tension between which might be said to characterise wider debates about the national identity and the political efficacy of writing in the period. The course will also register the significant emergence of a third fictional mode, drawing on existentialist thought and developments in European literature, and paying particular attention to the work of Muriel Spark.

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites	Students MUST have passed: ( English Literature 1 (ENLI08001) OR Scottish Literature 1 (ENLI08016)) AND ( English Literature 2 (ENLI08003) OR Scottish Literature 2 (ENLI08004))	Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations		Other requirements	None
Additional Costs	Essential course texts

Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisites	A MINIMUM of three college/university level literature courses at grade B or above (should include no more than one introductory level literature course). Related courses such as civilisation or creative writing are not considered for admissions to this course. Applicants should also note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission. In making admissions decisions preference will be given to students who achieve above the minimum requirement with the typical visiting student admitted to this course having three to four literature classes at grade A.
Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus?	No

Course Delivery Information

Delivery period: 2011/12 Semester 2, Available to all students (SV1)						WebCT enabled: Yes		Quota: 15
Location	Activity	Description	Weeks	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
No Classes have been defined for this Course
First Class	First class information not currently available
Additional information	1 hour(s) per week for 10 week(s).
No Exam Information

Delivery period: 2011/12 Semester 2, Available to all students (SV2)						WebCT enabled: Yes		Quota: 15
Location	Activity	Description	Weeks	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
No Classes have been defined for this Course
First Class	Week 1, Wednesday, 11:10 - 13:00, Zone: Central. Room 1.08, 24 Buccleuch Place
Additional information	1 hour(s) per week for 10 week(s).
No Exam Information

Delivery period: 2011/12 Semester 2, Part-year visiting students only (VV1)						WebCT enabled: Yes		Quota: 15
Location	Activity	Description	Weeks	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
No Classes have been defined for this Course
First Class	Week 1, Monday, 15:00 - 17:00, Zone: Central. Room 2.05, 18 Buccleuch Place
Additional information	1 hour(s) per week for 10 week(s).
No Exam Information

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
y the end of the course students should expect to have read a range of fiction produced by Scottish writers of this period, and to be able to situate specific works in relation to wider literary and cultural trends. They should be able to discuss the relationship between literature and cultural politics, with particular concern for possible tensions between notions of ?realism?, ?myth? and ?history?. They should be able to illustrate such a discussion with reference to examples of specific formal strategies adopted by novelists for negotiating between a range of artistic and political demands.

Assessment Information
1 essay of 2,500 words (25%); One examination essay of 3,000 words (75%)

Special Arrangements
Numbers are limited to 15, with priority given to students taking degrees involving English or Scottish Literature and Visiting Students placed by the Admissions Office. Students not in these categories need the written approval of the Head of English Literature before enrolling. In the case of excess applications places will be decided by ballot.

Additional Information
Academic description	Not entered
Syllabus	Not entered
Transferable skills	Not entered
Reading list	Not entered
Study Abroad	Not entered
Study Pattern	Not entered
Keywords	Not entered

Contacts
Course organiser	Dr Alex Thomson Tel: (0131 6)50 3058 Email: Alex.Thomson@ed.ac.uk	Course secretary	Ms June Haigh Tel: (0131 6)50 3612 Email: j.haigh@ed.ac.uk