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

Unit name	Place in Victorian and Recent Fiction
Unit code	ENGL30104
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
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.

Discuss the cultural geography of both Victorian novelists and contemporary writers:

• to compare the two with a historical sense of how cultural geography may shift

• to consider the literary representation of place  the role of literature within place as well as place within literature

• to explore the relation between literary and other representations of place.

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

1 x 2 hour seminar per week in one teaching block, plus 1-to-1 discussion in Consultation Hours where desired.

Assessment Information

1 Short Essay (2000 words max) and 1 Long Essay (4000 words max), both summative.

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