English III: Focus on Literature

The main aim of the course is to facilitate that the students acquire an in-depth knowlege of areas of specialisation in English studies. The course also aims to help students to develop their written and oral skills, as well as to develop and apply literary and theoretical concepts to their analyses of literary texts.

Modules

On completion of the module the student will be able to:

• demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of one of the areas of English literature, including familiarity with current research questions of the area or subject
• show the ability and skills needed to develop a research question and then independently search for, collect, evaluate and critically interpret and analyze relevant information
• conduct an independent literary study with basic scholarly value, some connection to current research, a relevant choice of method or theoretical application, as well as a clear argumentative drive, based on thoroughly carried out literary analyses within a limited frame of time
• orally and in writing, present and argue for his or her own results showing a high level of communicative competence
• analyze and discuss the scholarly work of others by pointing out strengths as well as weaknesses in the form of constructive response.

On completion of the module the student will be able to:

• demonstrate a good knowledge and understanding of a selection of contemporary literary works from the English-speaking world through a theoretical as well as cultural and historical perspective
• show a basic knowledge of modern and postmodern literary and cultural theory by describing the main trends of literary criticism from liberal humanism to ecocriticism
• analyze and interpret the literary texts in light of these theories
• orally and in writing communicate and argue for his or her own interpretations of the literary as well as critical and theoretical texts, in a clear and appropriate academic English.

On completion of the module the student will be able to:

• demonstrate a familiarity with contemporary literary and cultural theory and concepts related to the Bildungsroman as well as with relevant concepts in gender, ethnicity and ageing studies
• perform independent analyses and interpretations of a selection of works pertaining to the contemporary Bildungsroman in English in the light of these theories and concepts
• orally and in writing communicate and argue for his or her own interpretations of literary texts in clear and correct academic English
• critically reflect upon and give constructive criticism to the work of others.

Modules

The course starts with a study of the literary research process, including the choice of topic, research question, methodology or theoretical approach, search for secondary sources, outline and the actual craft of academic writing. The student then carries out an independent literary study of a well-defined and limited problem area which is directly connected to English literature in English. The study is presented in the form of an independently written essay of about 20-25 pages (6,500-7,500 words). The course also consists of practice in the oral presentation and defence of the student’s own results and arguments, as well as of analyses of other students’ work.

The course consists of a selection of contemporary literary works from the English-speaking world, which are studied from the perspective of a number of modern and postmodern cultural and theoretical schools of thought, such as liberal humanism, structuralism, poststructuralism, deconstruction, postmodernism, feminism/gender theory, Marxism, psychoanalysis and ecocriticism.

The aim of this course is to analyse the most recent developments in the Bildungsroman genre in English and the way it was redefined during the final decades of the twentieth century and the early twenty-first century. A selection of texts will be analysed from the perspective of gender, ethnicity and ageing. This will raise awareness about the manner in which these texts in a critical sense challenge traditional definitions of the Bildungsroman. In the analysis, stress is on those aspects of the current socio-historical context, such as the gained prominence of women in society, transcultural exchanges and the ageing population, all of which are crucial both in the formation of the individual as well as for social integration.

The Swedish grades U–VG.

To get a Pass with Distinction on the whole course, at least 22.5 credits must be graded Pass with Distinction.

Reporting of grades:
Module 1: Degree Thesis
Module 2: Literature and Theory
Module 3: The Contemporary Coming-of-Age Novel in English