| Unit name | Literature and Trauma: 1900 to the present |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ENGL20129 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Masud |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
n/a |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
n/a |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
n/a |
| School/department | Department of English |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
As a specialist subject option, this unit reflects the research expertise and enthusiasms of the convenor, and offers students the chance to work directly with a member of staff who has strong connections to the subject field. You will have the opportunity to engage in greater depth with a specialised theme or topic, pursue advanced discussions, and develop your own arguments and contributions. Your specialist subject may build directly on work introduced at an earlier stage of study, or branch out in a different direction. It may reflect some of your longstanding interests, or expose you to new and unexpected ideas. In all cases, specialist subject options encourage students to think reflectively, creatively, and with increased independence about their identities and interests as scholars.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
Specialist subject options are offered in the second and final years of the English programmes. It is standard practice for single honours students to take two specialist options in each of those years (one per TB), and for joint honours students to take one. Specialist subject options are available to students on Liberal Arts programmes, and may in some cases also be available to taught postgraduates. The portfolio of units available will change from year to year based on staff availability, but it will consistently represent a full range of research strengths across the English department, as well as demonstrating our commitment to supporting choice and providing increased optionality as students progress through their programme.
Overview of Content
In this unit, students will tackle a key aspect of contemporary writing: how do we understand and write about trauma? How does it affect choices around style, genre, narrative and characterisation? And how are these choices shaped by our cultural contexts? Every seminar will be based on one literary text, primarily from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries (poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction or drama), and one theoretical text (for instance, Freud, Laplanche, Caruth, Winnicott and Sharpe), and will address a different question around trauma (and) writing. For example: how has the meaning of the word ‘trauma’ shifted across the twentieth century? How might the consequences of trauma be differently conceived and written about in different cultural contexts? And how might trauma simultaneously disrupt and constitute narrative?
Authors we will study may include: Gayl Jones, Sarah Kane, Arundhati Roy, Emily Berry, Kurt Vonnegut, Dorothy Allison, Leslie Feinberg, Art Spiegelman and Akwaeke Emezi.
Theorists we will study may include: Sigmund Freud, Jean Laplanche, Donald Winnicott, Maurice Blanchot, Christina Sharpe, Ann Cvetkovich, Judith Butler, Cathy Caruth and Wendy Brown.
You will be given the opportunity to submit a draft or outline of your final, summative essay of up to 1,500 words and to receive feedback on this.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
On completion of the unit, students will have had the opportunity to engage with a range of theoretical and literary texts, gain an increased understanding of trauma as a historical and cultural construct, and refine their argumentation and close-reading skills in ways that not only connect to the content of this unit, but will be a valuable frame of reference for progress into year 3, and a possible starting point for their dissertation research.
Learning Outcomes
After completing this unit successfully, students will be able to:
Teaching will involve asynchronous and synchronous elements, including group discussion, research and writing activities, and peer dialogue. Students are expected to engage with the reading and participate fully with the weekly tasks and topics. Learning will be further supported through the opportunity for individual consultation.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
1 x 3000 word essay (100%) [ILOs 1-5]
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the format or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are confirmed by the School/Centre shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the year.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. ENGL20129).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an
assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
