Unit information: Place in Victorian and Recent Fiction in 2013/14

Unit name	Place in Victorian and Recent Fiction
Unit code	ENGLM3023
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Professor. Pite
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of English
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

By looking at place in a number of Victorian novelists (George Eliot, Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope), this module will consider both particular locations, their meaning and cultural resonances, and the role of setting in the nineteenth-century novel. These examples will then be compared to the role of place in some contemporary fiction (Birmingham in David Lodge and Jonathan Coe, versions of the North in 1960s realism and Kate Atkinson, and depictions of the south). The comparison will lead to discussion of how place is mediated by writing and how it has altered over time. Discussion will be informed by comparisons with film and TV versions of the novels.

Intended Learning Outcomes

On completion of the module students will be expected to be able to:

• Be familiar with a wide range of literary texts from the Victorian and contemporary periods.
• Understand several critical approaches to place in fiction and other media.
• Consider the role of place in society and experience
• Be able to construct a reasoned argument supported by appropriate use of evidence and analysis.

Teaching Information

10 x 2-hour seminar, 1 reading week, 11 Consultation Hours

Assessment Information

1 essay of 4,000 words

Reading and References

Key texts may include:

• Charles Dickens, ‘George Silverman’s Explanation’
• George Eliot, Silas Marner
• Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers
• Kate Atkinson, Behind the Scenes at the Museum
• Jonathan Coe, The Rotters’ Club
• Shena Mackay, The Orchard on Fire