Last modified: 23 Jul 2024 11:08
This course analyses a range of twenty-first-century postcolonial dystopian texts that focus on ‘other’ bodies and thematize corporeality and the spectrum of exploitation that is tied to the flesh. Bringing into focus contemporary anxieties around the fertile, racialized, and ‘other’ bodies in literary dystopias, the course theorises bodies as sites of violence and vulnerability, as well as sites of rebellion and resistance.
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | First Term | Credit Points | 30 credits (15 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
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One or more of these courses have a limited number of places. Priority access will be given to students for whom this course is compulsory. Please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions for more details on this process.
How are female as / and ‘other’ bodies used to weave a dystopian future? How are unrealities and tangible realities of the flesh brought together in dystopias to maximise the impact? How do we envision the mandates of dystopian (postcolonial) societies through corporeality? These are some of the questions the course seeks to answer. We are also looking beyond seminal texts like The Handmaid’s Tale to understand some of the most distinct attributes of postcolonial dystopian fiction and scrutinise the politics of the genre itself and how it reflects the anxieties of the subjugated.
The curriculum puts equal emphasis on creative literary texts as well as theories on violence, trauma, identity, and the body in the postcolonial context to obtain a comprehensive understanding of bodies under duress and their depictions in literary dystopias. Students will also learn to theorise and problematize key concepts of space, politics, nationalism, race, and culture and how these are intricately associated with the concept of ‘home’.
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18 | Feedback Weeks | 21 | |
| Feedback |
This mark will be based on a combination of attendance and engagement in seminars |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Analyse | Students will develop an interpretive framework for reading and theorizing postcolonial dystopias, and pose questions about the necessity of the genre, and see it beyond its warning function. |
| Conceptual | Apply | The course will equip students from diverse backgrounds to extend their epistemological parameters on body, trauma, and identity and challenge dominant ideologies on the topics. |
| Conceptual | Understand | Students will have knowledge and understanding of the complex interplay of gender, power, and society as well as the role of violence in our (imagined) societies and its textual manifestation. |
| Procedural | Apply | Students will be able to theorize various forms of control and conduct independent interdisciplinary research on biopolitics and necropolitics in occupied societies. |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Students will learn to develop key questions and formulate arguments for their essays revolving around the themes of violence, power, and otherization in narratives. |
| Reflection | Create | Students will concretize their views on sociopolitical contexts of texts, traditions of the genre, and answer questions on marginalization, intersectionality, and power dynamics in contemporary times |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 60 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 19 | Feedback Weeks | 21,24 | |
| Feedback |
For the final essay, students will compare two texts from across the course that they have not previously written on/presented. There will be suggested essay questions to respond as well as the option to create their own question (with approval from the course convenor) |
Word Count | 3500 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Analyse | Students will develop an interpretive framework for reading and theorizing postcolonial dystopias, and pose questions about the necessity of the genre, and see it beyond its warning function. |
| Conceptual | Apply | The course will equip students from diverse backgrounds to extend their epistemological parameters on body, trauma, and identity and challenge dominant ideologies on the topics. |
| Conceptual | Understand | Students will have knowledge and understanding of the complex interplay of gender, power, and society as well as the role of violence in our (imagined) societies and its textual manifestation. |
| Procedural | Apply | Students will be able to theorize various forms of control and conduct independent interdisciplinary research on biopolitics and necropolitics in occupied societies. |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Students will learn to develop key questions and formulate arguments for their essays revolving around the themes of violence, power, and otherization in narratives. |
| Reflection | Create | Students will concretize their views on sociopolitical contexts of texts, traditions of the genre, and answer questions on marginalization, intersectionality, and power dynamics in contemporary times |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 5,6,7,8,9,10 | Feedback Weeks | 15,16 | |
| Feedback |
Length: 10-12 minutes Presentation will be graded, and marks and feedback will be provided at the end of the term |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Analyse | Students will develop an interpretive framework for reading and theorizing postcolonial dystopias, and pose questions about the necessity of the genre, and see it beyond its warning function. |
| Conceptual | Apply | The course will equip students from diverse backgrounds to extend their epistemological parameters on body, trauma, and identity and challenge dominant ideologies on the topics. |
| Conceptual | Understand | Students will have knowledge and understanding of the complex interplay of gender, power, and society as well as the role of violence in our (imagined) societies and its textual manifestation. |
| Procedural | Apply | Students will be able to theorize various forms of control and conduct independent interdisciplinary research on biopolitics and necropolitics in occupied societies. |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Students will learn to develop key questions and formulate arguments for their essays revolving around the themes of violence, power, and otherization in narratives. |
| Reflection | Create | Students will concretize their views on sociopolitical contexts of texts, traditions of the genre, and answer questions on marginalization, intersectionality, and power dynamics in contemporary times |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 8 | Feedback Weeks | 10,11 | |
| Feedback |
Word Count: 400-500 The handmade research poster will be a reflective and creative evaluation and analysis of the course texts. The students will pick one key theme and evaluate that in the light of the text(s). |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Analyse | Students will develop an interpretive framework for reading and theorizing postcolonial dystopias, and pose questions about the necessity of the genre, and see it beyond its warning function. |
| Conceptual | Apply | The course will equip students from diverse backgrounds to extend their epistemological parameters on body, trauma, and identity and challenge dominant ideologies on the topics. |
| Conceptual | Understand | Students will have knowledge and understanding of the complex interplay of gender, power, and society as well as the role of violence in our (imagined) societies and its textual manifestation. |
| Procedural | Apply | Students will be able to theorize various forms of control and conduct independent interdisciplinary research on biopolitics and necropolitics in occupied societies. |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Students will learn to develop key questions and formulate arguments for their essays revolving around the themes of violence, power, and otherization in narratives. |
| Reflection | Create | Students will concretize their views on sociopolitical contexts of texts, traditions of the genre, and answer questions on marginalization, intersectionality, and power dynamics in contemporary times |
There are no assessments for this course.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 100 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 50 | Feedback Weeks | 51,52 | |
| Feedback | Word Count | 4500 | ||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Evaluate | Students will learn to develop key questions and formulate arguments for their essays revolving around the themes of violence, power, and otherization in narratives. |
| Procedural | Apply | Students will be able to theorize various forms of control and conduct independent interdisciplinary research on biopolitics and necropolitics in occupied societies. |
| Conceptual | Understand | Students will have knowledge and understanding of the complex interplay of gender, power, and society as well as the role of violence in our (imagined) societies and its textual manifestation. |
| Conceptual | Analyse | Students will develop an interpretive framework for reading and theorizing postcolonial dystopias, and pose questions about the necessity of the genre, and see it beyond its warning function. |
| Conceptual | Apply | The course will equip students from diverse backgrounds to extend their epistemological parameters on body, trauma, and identity and challenge dominant ideologies on the topics. |
| Reflection | Create | Students will concretize their views on sociopolitical contexts of texts, traditions of the genre, and answer questions on marginalization, intersectionality, and power dynamics in contemporary times |
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