Undergraduate Course: Contemporary Scottish Fiction (ENLI10280)
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 | This course will look at the relationship between Scottish fiction, politics and culture. We will examine a range of novels and short stories published over the last forty years which showcase the diversity of late twentieth-century and contemporary Scottish fiction. We will consider the ways in which Scottish writing might be seen to reflect larger debates about political and cultural autonomy in the period, issues around cultural identity, and reflections from Scottish intellectuals about the possibilities and dangers of nationalism. We will look at the ways in which those issues are mediated through the form of the contemporary novel, in particular the nature, variety, and extent of contemporary formal innovations and experimentation. Much recent Scottish fiction demonstrates different kinds of explicit and implicit political commitment; but this interacts with a lingering distrust of the public realm, suspicion of historical narrative, and a focus on interiority and subjectivity. What does this mean for our understanding of the relationship between literature and Scottish society? |
| Course description |
This course will look at the relationship between Scottish fiction, politics and culture. We will examine a range of novels and short stories published over the last forty years which showcase the diversity of late twentieth-century and contemporary Scottish fiction. We will consider the ways in which Scottish writing might be seen to reflect larger debates about political and cultural autonomy in the period, issues around cultural identity, and reflections from Scottish intellectuals about the possibilities and dangers of nationalism. We will look at the ways in which those issues are mediated through the form of the contemporary novel, in particular the nature, variety, and extent of contemporary formal innovations and experimentation. Much recent Scottish fiction demonstrates different kinds of explicit and implicit political commitment; but this interacts with a lingering distrust of the public realm, suspicion of historical narrative, and a focus on interiority and subjectivity. What does this mean for our understanding of the relationship between literature and Scottish society?
Students should expect to devote considerable individual preparation time to close reading of the novels on the course, as the complex techniques of contemporary fiction demand careful attention and if possible re-reading. Students will also be expected to consult a range of secondary material covering critical debates in the field. Working together in Autonomous Learning Groups, students will consider specific points of interpretation relating to the primary texts, as well as discussing the critical debates. Individually, and in their Autonomous Learning Groups, students will be encouraged to develop their own responses to the primary materials, and on that basis to formulate critical assessments of previous critical interpretations. Seminar discussion will be grounded in individual and Group responses to the primary texts, supplemented by consideration of the wider critical debates. Knowledge of primary and secondary material, as well as critical analytical skills, and skills in developing an argument in relation to close analysis of the text, will be assessed through coursework.
Indicative reading list for 2025/26
Janice Galloway, The Trick is to Keep Breathing (1989)
Alasdair Gray, Poor Things (1992)
James Kelman, How Late It Was How Late (1994)
Andrew O'Hagan, Our Fathers (1999)
James Robertson, Joseph Knight (2003)
Luke Sutherland, Venus as a boy (2004)
Jackie Kay, Reality, Reality (2011)
Louise Welsh, The Cutting Room (2002)
Selected short stories
Jenni Fagan, The Sunlight Pilgrims (2016)
|
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2025/26, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
|
Quota: 24 |
| 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 )
|
| Additional Information (Learning and Teaching) |
plus 1 hour Autonomous Learning Group per week, at time to be arranged.
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
2000 word take-home close reading essay (30%) submitted mid-semester
- Students will be required to perform a close reading of an extract and demonstrate how it relates to relevant course themes or issues studied so far. [LO2, LO3, LO4]
3000 word final essay submitted during the exam period (70%) [LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4]
|
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate familiarity with a range of contemporary Scottish writers and texts.
- Identify and evaluate critical approaches to contemporary Scottish writers and texts.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the relation of contemporary Scottish fiction to its cultural, political and social contexts.
- Undertake critical textual analysis of contemporary Scottish fiction.
|
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 Enlgish or Scottish literature need the written approval of the head of English Literature. |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
Seminar;
plus attendance for one hour per week at Autonomous Learning Group - at time to be arranged. |
| Keywords | ENLI10280 Contemporary Scottish Fict |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Gerard McKeever
Tel:
Email: Gerard.McKeever@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Lina Gordyshevskaya
Tel:
Email: pgordysh@ed.ac.uk |
|
|
University Homepage