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  6. EL5590: Locations and Dislocations: The Role of Place in Literature

EL5590: LOCATIONS AND DISLOCATIONS: THE ROLE OF PLACE IN LITERATURE (2017-2018)

Last modified: 24 May 2018 19:15


Course Overview

This course examines the social, political and cultural construction of place in literary texts. The imaginative co-ordinates of places such as ‘Scotland’, or ‘England’ exist in a constant state of flux, refusing to yield an essential, authentic image. Using core texts from the early modern period paired with more recent literary responses we explore the idea of place in its various forms. Key themes and issues to be discussed will include the rural and urban divide; literature and nationhood; the nature of community; the significance of emigration, and displacement; walking texts, metropolitan literature, and ideas of the “new world” 

Course Details

Study Type Postgraduate Level 5
Term Second Term Credit Points 30 credits (15 ECTS credits)
Campus None. Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Dr Andrew Gordon

Qualification Prerequisites

None.

What courses & programmes must have been taken before this course?

  • One of Music (MU) (Studied) or Master of Letters in English Literary Studies (Studied) or Master of Letters in Irish and Scottish Literature (Studied) or M Litt in Creative Writing (Studied)
  • Any Postgraduate Programme (Studied)

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

What courses cannot be taken with this course?

None.

Are there a limited number of places available?

No

Course Description

It is said that a map is a convenient fiction, a representation of the shape a place might take if only one could see it; the co-ordinates of places such as ‘Scotland’, ‘Ireland’, England’ and ‘Australia’, their imaginative latitudes and longitudes, have been in a constant state of flux throughout the ages, refusing to yield an essential, authentic image. Place is often seen as something to be both embraced and abandoned, but it always remains central in any discussion of individual and communal identities. This course examines the social, political and cultural construction of places in literary texts. Key themes and issues to be discussed include: the idea of ‘home’; the rural and urban divide; the intersection of novel and nation; the role of nostalgia and longing in literature; the nature of community; the significance of emigration and displacement; utopian and dystopian communities; diasporic communities and the transatlantic imagination. This course examines how the writer’s sense of place can influence both the choice of subject matter as well as determine his or her approach to it.

Contact Teaching Time

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

Teaching Breakdown

More Information about Week Numbers


Details, including assessments, may be subject to change until 30 August 2024 for 1st term courses and 20 December 2024 for 2nd term courses.

Summative Assessments

1 x 2000 word essay (20%)

1 x 4000 word essay (80%)

Formative Assessment

There are no assessments for this course.

Feedback

None.

Course Learning Outcomes

None.
 

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