Postgraduate Course: Contemporary American Fiction (ENLI11022)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course is not a survey of recent American fiction, but rather an examination of particular novels in the context of ideas about postmodernism. The aim of the course is partly to assess the value (or otherwise) of postmodernism as a way to think about American fiction and culture. Some reading in postmodern theory is essential, although no prior knowledge is assumed. By studying the novels of nine different writers, the course also interrogates what it means to be ¿American¿ in the contemporary period, and scrutinizes the relationship between the novels¿ social politics and the issue of aesthetic merit.
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| Course description |
This course is not a survey of recent American fiction, but rather an examination of particular novels in the context of ideas about postmodernism. The aim of the course is partly to assess the value (or otherwise) of postmodernism as a way to think about American fiction and culture. Some reading in postmodern theory is essential, although no prior knowledge is assumed. By studying the novels of nine different writers, the course also interrogates what it means to be ¿American¿ in the contemporary period, and scrutinizes the relationship between the novels¿ social politics and the issue of aesthetic merit.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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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
| Not being delivered |
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, Zero K
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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