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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2022/2023

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures : English Literature

Postgraduate Course: Joyce and Style (ENLI11067)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Literatures, Languages and Cultures CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
Summary

Short Description The course examines all of Joyce's major work in chronological order of its publication. It begins with two weeks in which students are introduced to a number of critical positions upon modern literary culture and the relationship between literary style and cultural politics. Joyce's four major works are then examined within a framework which places considerable emphasis upon close reading. This approach is particularly well-suited to Joyce because that fact that he 'only' published four masterpieces means that students may cover his corpus in its entirety. This emphasis upon chronology therefore enables students to gain both the clearest possible insight into the development of Joyce's style and to begin to appreciate the historical contexts that inform his radicalisation of literary realism. Because Joyce's fiction, with its exploration of language, sexuality and nationalism, has itself become central to many feminist, post-colonial and post-structuralist theories of literature, the course will also encourage students to think self-consciously about the relationship between literature, aesthetics and politics. The course aims to provide students with a detailed understanding of the work of one of the greatest modern writers, and to enhance their understanding of literary realism, modernist culture and the poetics and politics of postmodernism.



Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes Students will gain an understanding of the politics, aesthetics and historical context of James Joyce's writing.
In addition to the understanding of a single author this course will also provide key critical skills: how to negotiate the relationship between biography and literary text, how to read an author's work in context and how to assess the critical reception of a literary work.
Course description The course offers a general and immersive introduction to the work of James Joyce, perhaps the greatest modernist prose writer. It begins with a brief overview of modernist literary culture and narrative techniques as contexts for Joyce¿s novelistic and stylistic development. Each of Joyce's four major works (Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake) are then examined in turn within a seminar framework which places considerable emphasis upon collective close reading. This approach is particularly well-suited to Joyce because that fact that he 'only' published four masterpieces means that students may become familiar with his corpus in its entirety. This emphasis upon chronology and collective close reading enables students to gain both the clearest possible insight into the development of Joyce's style and to begin to appreciate the historical contexts that inform his radicalisation and transformation of literary realism. Because Joyce's fiction, with its exploration of language, sexuality, consciousness, ethnicity, nationalism and imperialism has itself become central to many different critical styles of reading, the course will also encourage students to think self-consciously about the relationship between literature, aesthetics and politics. The course therefore aims to provide students with a detailed understanding of the work of one of the greatest modern writers, and to enhance their understanding of literary realism, modernist writing and culture, and the poetics and politics of postmodernism.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2022/23, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  2
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 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) One 4,000 word essay to be submitted as specified in programme handbook or by the supervisor
Feedback Not entered
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
Students will gain an understanding of the politics, aesthetics and historical context of James Joyce's writing.
In addition to the understanding of a single author this course will also provide key critical skills: how to negotiate the relationship between biography and literary text, how to read an author's work in context and how to assess the critical reception of a literary work.
Reading List
None
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
Additional Class Delivery Information 1 hour(s) per week for 10 week(s).
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Lee Spinks
Tel: (0131 6)50 3616
Email: Lee.Spinks@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Kara McCormack
Tel: (0131 6)50 3030
Email: Kara.McCormack@ed.ac.uk
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