Postgraduate Course: Contemporary American Fiction (ENLI11022)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Contemporary American Fiction is an introduction to the American novel of the last twenty years; the course emphasises the unique cultural diversity of recent American writing, and seeks to promote its aesthetic value while understanding that value within debates about cultural politics: how does one assess the artistic merit of individual texts within a 'multicultural' context where the idea of 'American' national identity is profoundly contested. |
| Course description |
Contemporary American Fiction is an introduction to the American novel of the last twenty years; the course emphasises the unique cultural diversity of recent American writing, and seeks to promote its aesthetic value while understanding that value within debates about cultural politics: how does one assess the artistic merit of individual texts within a 'multicultural' context where the idea of 'American' national identity is profoundly contested.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | Purchase of essential texts as required. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2017/18, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 15 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
196 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
One essay of 4,000 words. |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Will have acquired a good close textual knowledge of nine radically different recent American novels
- Have a knowledge of how these novels are situated in terms of arguments about American cultural politics (especially the heterogeneity of American society)
- Will have some understanding of contemporary debates and politics and aesthetics as those debates are given a focus by recent American fiction. The successful student will also have acquired transferable skills that are integral to this course
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Reading List
E. L. Doctorow, Ragtime.
Joan Didion, Play It As It Lays
Bobbie Ann Mason, In Country
Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping
David Foster Wallace, The Pale King
Don Delillo, White Noise
Sherman Alexie, The Lone Ranger and Tonto.
Jennifer Egan, A Visit from the Goon Squad
Jeffrey Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Special Arrangements |
Postgraduate version of ENLI10172 |
| Keywords | CAF |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Ken Millard
Tel: (0131 6)50 8304
Email: K.Millard@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Kara Mccormack
Tel: (0131 6)50 3030
Email: Kara.McCormack@ed.ac.uk |
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