Undergraduate Course: The Great Detectives 5 (LLLG07074)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 7 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 10 |
| Home subject area | Lifelong Learning (LLC) |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | THIS IS A FOR-CREDIT COURSE OFFERED BY THE OFFICE FOR LIFELONG LEARNING (OLL); ONLY STUDENTS REGISTERED WITH OLL SHOULD BE ENROLLED.
Detective fiction is a fascinating genre because of the sheer multiplicity of novels within it. This course aims to tease out the differing approaches that detective fiction writers have used. We will study one of the first Scandi-crime novels that set the template for discussing crime alongside society in Scandinavian detective fiction. We will also discuss a novel that fictionalises the relationship between Arthur Conan Doyle and a wrongly accused criminal. We will end the course by considering the impact of Norman Mailer's magisterial Executioner's Song in exploring the motivations of a real murderer. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Delivery period: 2014/15 Lifelong Learning - Session 2, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
|
Learn enabled: No |
Quota: None |
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Web Timetable |
Web Timetable |
| Course Start Date |
12/01/2015 |
| Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
78 )
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| Additional Notes |
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| Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| No Exam Information |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
* discuss texts confidently;
* assess literature based, to a certain extent, on their own close reading;
* place literature in its historical context;
* explain the various elements of the genre of detective fiction;
* demonstrate a good understanding of how the genre has developed and diversified.
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Assessment Information
| One 2000 word essay submitted after the course finishes, worth 100% of the total course mark. |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Week 1 and Week 2: Setting the pace for Scandi-crime: Sjöwall and Wahlöö's Martin Beck.
Text: Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö: Roseanna
Week 3 and Week 4: Developing the hard-boiled detective: Sam Spade makes his own justice.
Text: Dashiell Hammett: The Maltese Falcon
Week 5 and Week 6: The Creator of a great detective turns detective: Arthur Conan Doyle and the Edalji case.
Text: Julian Barnes: Arthur and George
Week 7 and Week 8: Muriel Spark's 'whydunnit': The Driver's Seat and murder.
Text: Muriel Spark: The Driver's Seat
Week 9 and Week 10: Mailer's Executioner's Song: Crime, consequence and the death penalty.
Text: Norman Mailer: The Executioner's Song
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| Transferable skills |
* Close critical reading of passages from texts.
* Small group working.
* Setting literature in historical, social and political context.
* Advance preparation of material for class including work for essays and class discussion.
* Wide reading. Students will be encouraged to work around the subject by reading other detective novels and relevant secondary material. |
| Reading list |
Essential
Sjöwall, Maj and Wahlöö, Per, 2011. Roseanna. London: Fourth Estate.
Hammett, Dashiell, 2011. The Maltese Falcon. London: Thinking Ink.
Barnes, Julian, 2006. Arthur and George. London: Vintage.
Spark, Muriel, 2006. The Driver's Seat. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Mailer, Norman, 1991. The Executioner's Song. London: Vintage.
Recommended
Priestman, Martin ed., 2003. The Cambridge Companion to Detective Fiction. Cambridge: CUP.
Scaggs, John 2005. Crime Fiction. London: Routledge.
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| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Anya Clayworth
Tel:
Email: aclaywor@staffmail.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Sabine Murdoch
Tel: (0131 6)51 1855
Email: Sabine.Murdoch@ed.ac.uk |
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