Undergraduate Course: Working Class Representations (ENLI10271)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course examines how working-class writers have represented themselves as well as how they have been represented by others. It pays due attention to the formal modes employed by working-class writing (realism, expressionism, surrealism, fantasy etc)across a range of genres - fiction, poetry, drama and film. The course moves from the nineteenth century to the present in order to understand how class identities change over time yet it also affirms how the reconstitution of class is not synonymous with its disappearance. The course will focus on key issues such as the relationship between culture and politics, the intellectual or writer as a socially mediated figure, solidarity and inviduality, social mobility, gender, voice and vernacular, the politics of representation. |
| Course description |
Topics Schedule and Texts / Films
Class and Representation
Gerard Manley Hopkins ¿Tom¿s Garland: Upon the Unemployed¿ (poem
handout provided)
Elizabeth Gaskell, Mary Barton
Patrick MacGill, Children of the Dead End.
Robert Tressell, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists
James Hanley, Boy
Post-WWII: Society, Class, Consumerism
Alan Sillitoe, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
Shelagh Delaney, A Taste of Honey
Up the Junction (film); Kes (film)
Tony Harrison, Selected Poems
Tom Leonard, Intimate Voices
¿There is no such thing as society¿: the 1980s and Beyond
James Kelman, How Late It Was, How Late
Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting and film version (Dir. Danny Boyle)
Plus a section of films: Dockers; Riff-Raff; Brassed Off; Billy Elliott
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | A MINIMUM of 4 college/university level literature courses at grade B or above (should include no more than one introductory level literature course). Related courses such as cross disciplinary, "Freshman Seminars", civilisation or creative writing classes are not considered for admission 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 four or more literature classes at grade A.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course **
|
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2021/22, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Quota: 27 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
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 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Standard model:
2500 word essay (40%) submitted mid-semester week 9
+ 3000 word final essay submitted at end of semester / in exam period (60%).
OR: Alternative model: alternative coursework assessment (40%)
+ 3000 word final essay submitted at end of semester / in exam period (60%) |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
|
| Academic year 2021/22, Part-year visiting students only (VV1)
|
Quota: 3 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
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 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Standard model:
2500 word essay (40%) submitted mid-semester week 9
+ 3000 word final essay submitted at end of semester / in exam period (60%).
OR: Alternative model: alternative coursework assessment (40%)
+ 3000 word final essay submitted at end of semester / in exam period (60%) |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
| By the end of this course students will have gained a detailed knowledge of how working-class writers represent themselves and have been represented both critically and theoretically.
|
Reading List
Topics Schedule and Texts / Films
Class and Representation
Gerard Manley Hopkins ¿Tom¿s Garland: Upon the Unemployed¿ (poem
handout provided)
Elizabeth Gaskell, Mary Barton
Patrick MacGill, Children of the Dead End.
Robert Tressell, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists
James Hanley, Boy
Post-WWII: Society, Class, Consumerism
Alan Sillitoe, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
Shelagh Delaney, A Taste of Honey
Up the Junction (film); Kes (film)
Tony Harrison, Selected Poems
Tom Leonard, Intimate Voices
¿There is no such thing as society¿: the 1980s and Beyond
James Kelman, How Late It Was, How Late
Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting and film version (Dir. Danny Boyle)
Plus a section of films: Dockers; Riff-Raff; Brassed Off; Billy Elliott
|
Additional Information
| Course URL |
https://www.ed.ac.uk/literatures-languages-cultures/english-literature/undergraduate/current/honours |
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Special Arrangements |
Numbers are limited, 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 Class Delivery Information |
Seminar: 2 hour(s) per week for 10 week(s). Plus 1 hour a week attendance at Autonomous Learning Group - times to be arranged |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Aaron Kelly
Tel: (0131 6)50 3071
Email: Aaron.Kelly@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Michael Butler
Tel: (0131 6)51 1513
Email: michael.butler@ed.ac.uk |
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