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  5. Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Studies
  6. CE4090: CELTIC MYTH IN THE MODERN WORLD: FROM OSSIAN TO THE NEW AGE B

CE4090: CELTIC MYTH IN THE MODERN WORLD: FROM OSSIAN TO THE NEW AGE B (2014-2015)

Last modified: 28 Jun 2018 10:27


Course Overview

Say the word ‘Celtic’ to most people today, and something vaguely mystical, romantic, nature-loving and long-haired will probably come to mind. Where do these stereotypes come from? What use have they been to the non-Celts who generated them in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries? How have these images been reused in the Celtic revivals and nationalisms of modern Scotland, Ireland and Wales? Why are they so central to New Age and neopagan movements? We explore these questions by examining English-language reworkings of Celtic myths and legends, and ideological texts about Celticism, mostly from Britain and Ireland.

Course Details

Study Type Undergraduate Level 4
Term First Term Credit Points 30 credits (15 ECTS credits)
Campus None. Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Professor Ralph O'Connor

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

None.

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

This course examines how and why stories and images of a mythical Celtic past came to haunt the modern Western imagination, focusing in particular on Anglophone Britain and Ireland since c. 1760. The Celtic cultures in which these stories were originally produced suffered disastrous political setbacks in the early modern period; but these stories soon attracted much learned and popular interest outside the Celtic-speaking world. Here, sometimes transformed beyond recognition, they have served new purposes: literary, social, religious, political, and musical. We will trace these metamorphoses by examining the forms and functions of Celtic legendary narrative in (for example) Romantic literature, art and music; Scottish and Irish national revival movements; twentieth-century Anglophone literature; and the New Age movement. Alongside these transformations of myth and legend, the course will critically examine the evolving concept of 'the Celt' in cultural and racial discourse from the Enlightenment to the present day, and how it colours our perceptions of Celtic-speaking cultures past and present.

Further Information & Notes

This course is available to students on all degree programmes (other than Celtic & Anglo-Saxon Studies) as a Discipline Breadth course for the enhanced study requirement.
The course may not be taken as part of a graduating curriculum with its counterpart in the other Honours year.
This course will be available in 2014/15.

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

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (60%), in-course assessment essay of 2000 words (30%) and seminar participation (10%).

Formative Assessment

Students are assessed formatively on their seminar performance according to criteria clearly explained at the start of the course.

Feedback

Students are given feedback weekly in the form of written corrections to submitted work and advice delivered verbally in class, both to individuals and to the whole class.

Course Learning Outcomes

None.
 

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