Postgraduate Course: Joyce and Style (ENLI11067)
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 | Not available to visiting students |
SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
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.
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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.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Students on LLC MSc programmes get first priority to this course. If you are not on an LLC programme, please let your administrator or the course administrator know you are interested in the course. Unauthorised enrolments will be removed. No auditors are permitted. |
Course Delivery Information
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Academic year 2024/25, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 4 |
Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
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Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
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Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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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.
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Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
Additional Class Delivery Information |
1 hour(s) per week for 10 week(s). |
Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
Course organiser | Dr Lee Spinks
Tel: (0131 6)50 3616
Email: Lee.Spinks@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Hope Hamilton
Tel: (0131 6)50 4167
Email: hope.hamilton@ed.ac.uk |
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