Undergraduate Course: Modern and Contemporary Scottish Poetry (ENLI10088)
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 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Modern and contemporary Scottish verse is notable for its range and virtuosity. Its abundant vernacular energy is matched by great variety in terms of style, mode, and voice. |
| Course description |
Modern and contemporary Scottish verse is notable for its range and virtuosity. Its abundant vernacular energy is matched by great variety in terms of style, mode, and voice. From formal compactness to sprawling experimentalism; from yearning lyricism to mordant satire; from uncompromising naturalism to dream-songs, fables and fantasies; from impassioned searches for authenticity to bawdy carnivalesques - students will be encouraged to experience and enjoy the many-voiced contradictions and diversity of Scottish poetry, but also to discover and explore interconnections and parallels between differing styles, viewpoints and tendencies. The course will focus on a selection of poems by a variety of poets, which will be made available online. There will also be a growing emphasis on representing the richness and depth of women's poetry in the second half of the course.
Featured Poets
Hugh MacDiarmid
Edwin Muir
George MacKay Brown
Robert Garioch
Norman MacCaig
Edwin Morgan
Tom Leonard
W. S. Graham
Douglas Dunn
Liz Lochhead
Carol Ann Duffy
Jackie Kay
Tracey Herd
Jen Hadfield
Kathleen Jamie
John Burnside
Don Paterson
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Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 15 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Additional Information (Learning and Teaching) |
plus 1 hour Autonomous Learning Group per week, at time to be arranged.
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
1 mid-semester coursework essay of 2,000 words (30%)
1 final essay of 3,000 words (70%) |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- By the end of the course students should be able to demonstrate a detailed knowledge of key texts of modern and contemporary Scottish poetry.
- Students should also be able to demonstrate understanding of the major critical debates produced by modern and contemporary Scottish poetry.
- Students should be able to demonstrate understanding of the cultural context of modern and contemporary Scottish poetry.
- Students should be able to undertake independent critical analysis of modern and contemporary Scottish poetry.
- Students should be able to orally present the results of research undertaken individually and as part of a small group, respond judiciously to such research undertaken by others, and critically evaluate the importance of such material for an understanding of the chief themes of the course.
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Reading List
Indicative Secondary Reading
- Brown, Ian, et al (eds.). The Edinburgh History of Scottish Literature, vol. 3, Modern Transformations: New Identities (from 1918). Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2006.
- _____ and Alan Riach (eds.). The Edinburgh Companion to Twentieth-Century Scottish Literature. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2009.
- Carruthers, Gerrard, David Goldie and Alistair Renfrew (eds.). Beyond Scotland: New Contexts for Twentieth-Century Scottish Literature. New York: Rodopi, 2004.
- Craig, Cairns (ed.). The History of Scottish Literature, Vol. 4, The Twentieth Century. Aberdeen: Aberdeen UP, 1987.
- Christianson, Aileen, and Alison Lumsden (eds.). Contemporary Scottish Women Writers Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2000.
- Crawford, Robert. Identifying Poets: Self and Territory in Twentieth-Century Poetry. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 1993.
- _____ Devolving English Literature. 2nd ed. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2000.
- _____ Scotland¿s Books: The Penguin History of Scottish Literature. London: Penguin, 2007.
- Dósa, Attila. Beyond Identity: New Horizons in Modern Scottish Poetry. Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, 2009.
- Fulton, Robin. Contemporary Scottish Poetry: Individuals and Contexts. Edinburgh: Macdonald, 1974.
- Gifford, Douglas, and Alan Riach (eds.). Scotlands: Poets and the Nation. Manchester: Carcanet, 2004.
- _____ and Dorothy MacMillan, eds. A History of Scottish Women¿s Writing. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 1997.
- MacKay, Peter, Edna Longley and Fran Brearton, eds. Modern Irish and Scottish Poetry. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2011.
- McGuire, Matt, and Colin Nicholson, eds. The Edinburgh Companion to Contemporary Scottish Poetry. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2009.
- Morgan, Edwin. Nothing Not Giving Messages. Edinburgh: Polygon, 1990.
- _____ Crossing the Border: Essays on Scottish literature. Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1990.
- Muir, Edwin. Selected Prose. London: John Murray, 1987.
- Nicholson, Colin. Poem, Purpose and Place: Shaping Identity in Contemporary Scottish Verse. Edinburgh: Polygon, 1992.
- _____ Fivefathers: Interviews with Late Twentieth Century Poets. Tirril: Humanities-Ebooks, 2007.
- Schoene, Berthold (ed.). The Edinburgh Companion to Contemporary Scottish Literature. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2007.
- Watson, Roderick. The Literature of Scotland (Vol 2): The Twentieth Century. 2nd ed. London: Macmillan, 2007
- Whyte, Christopher. Modern Scottish Poetry. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2004.
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Additional Information
| Course URL |
http://www.ed.ac.uk/literatures-languages-cultures/english-literature/undergraduate/current/honours |
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Special Arrangements |
Numbers are limited and students not taking degrees involving English or Scottish literature need the written approval of the head of English Literature. |
| 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 | Poetry,Scotland,Modern Literature,Contemporary Literature |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Alan Gillis
Tel: (0131 6)50 3050
Email: Alan.Gillis@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms June Cahongo
Tel: (0131 6)50 3620
Email: J.Cahongo@ed.ac.uk |
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