Undergraduate Course: Contemporary Scottish Fiction (ENLI10280)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will look at the relationship between Scottish fiction, politics and culture in the context of devolution. We will examine a range of novels published over the last thirty years which showcase the strength and diversity of contemporary Scottish fiction, and consider the ways in which Scottish writing might be seen to reflect larger debates about political and cultural autonomy in the period, issues around cultural identity, and anxieties amongst Scottish intellectuals about the possibilities and dangers of nationalism. However we will also need to consider the ways in which those issues are mediated through the form of the contemporary novel, in particular the nature, variety and extent of contemporary departures from the conventions of realism; even the constitution of the literary field itself. The most striking feature of much of the writing of the period may be its apparent distance from overt political commitment, its distrust of the public realm, suspicion of historical narrative, and its focus on interiority and subjectivity. What does this mean for our understanding of the relationship between literature and society in contemporary Scotland? |
| Course description |
Not entered
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Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2014/15, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 30 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Please contact the School directly for a breakdown of Learning and Teaching Activities |
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
75 %,
Coursework
25 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
One coursework essay of 2,500 words (25%)
One take-home exam essay of c. 3,000 words (75%) |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
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| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | | 2:00 | |
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.
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Reading List
Candia McWilliam, Debatable Land
Allan Massie, A Question of Loyalties
Andrew O'Hagan, Our Fathers
Alasdair Gray, 1982 Janine
James Kelman, How Late It Was, How Late
Ali Smith, Like
A.L. Kennedy, So I Am Glad
Alan Warner, Morvern Callar
James Robertson, The Testament of Gideon Mack |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Alex Thomson
Tel: (0131 6)50 3058
Email: Alex.Thomson@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Anne Mason
Tel: (0131 6)50 3618
Email: Anne.Mason@ed.ac.uk |
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