Undergraduate Course: Body in Literature (ENLI10110)
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 some of the most influential ways in which literary writing has depicted and explored the human body, and discusses arguments about identity, gender, race, desire, sex, violence, beauty and monstrosity. The human body has been depicted in a wide variety of different ways across a range of cultural and historical contexts. It has been described, variously, as a biological entity, clothing for a soul, a site of cultural production, a psychosexual construct and a material encumbrance. Each different characterisation brings with it a range of anthropological, biological, political, theological and psychological discourses that explore and construct identities and subject positions. The body is at once a locus of invention and self-expression, and also an object of domination and control. In today's culture it is also located at the heart of debates about race, gender, sexuality and identity. This course considers the different ways in which the human body has been such a central object of discussion in literature from the Renaissance onwards and explores the politics and philosophy of bodily representation. |
| Course description |
We will discuss the variety of ways in which literature has presented the human body by reading a range of literature published from the early-modern period to the end of the twentieth century. These literary texts will be read in the light of critical and theoretical arguments drawn from sources that present varied perspectives on embodiment.
The structure of reading and analysis on the course is broadly comparative: we will explore the similarities and differences between the set texts, and examine the various types of analysis made possible by the critical and theoretical modes of reading which will be introduced as the course progresses. Key topics for discussion this year will include: the meanings of beauty, ugliness and monstrosity; desire and sexuality; gender, race and representation; violence and death; identity, power and performance.
Class discussions will focus on the literary, philosophical, theological, psychological, social, cultural and political implications of different manners of writing about embodiment. To prepare for these discussions, students will be required to work in advance in smaller 'autonomous learning groups' to produce material which will be presented to the class in a variety of forms (written reports posted to the course vle, informal contributions to discussion, and more formal verbal or written presentations). As well as writing two essays for the course (30% and 60% of the overall grade), students will be assessed on their contribution to classes (10%).
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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 **
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| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 30 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Other Study Hours 10,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
166 )
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| Additional Information (Learning and Teaching) |
one hour per week Autonomous Learning Group
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Course Essay of 2,000 words (30%)
Exam essay of 3,000 words (60%)
Class participation assessment (10%) |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Construct original, clear and coherent arguments about literature¿s depictions of embodiment, identity and culture;
- Analyse literary texts using recognised literary critical methodologies to substantiate and illustrate those arguments;
- Extrapolate, evaluate and assess ideas from a range of non-literary sources in order to bring them to bear on their analyses of the body in literature;
- 4. Students will reflect critically on how, and why, literary modernism has been constructed in particular ways.
- 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
William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus
Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass
Virginia Woolf, Orlando
Alasdair Gray, Poor Things
Jeanette Winterson, Written on the Body
Iain Banks, The Wasp Factory
Octavia Butler, The Parable of the Sower
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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 and students taking degrees not 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 per week attendance at Autonomous Learning Group - at times to be arranged |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Simon Malpas
Tel: (0131 6)50 3596
Email: Simon.Malpas@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Vivien MacNish Porter
Tel: (0131 6)50 3528
Email: vivien.macnish-porter@ed.ac.uk |
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