If the Bildungsroman has been criticised for being outmoded and conservative, how do contemporary writers interrogate and expand its scope and importance? Are coming-of-age narratives merely private stories or can they be read in ways which highlight their social functions, and what kind of theoretical, aesthetic and cultural perspectives can we apply to scrutinise these functions? This module will bring together a range of texts and films from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries that can be read within and against the literary tradition of the Bildungsroman or the coming-of-age narrative. Drawing on material from the US, the Caribbean, Asia and Europe, we will spend time analysing the representation of the coming-of-age experience in terms of content and form and assess the ideological functions of the Bildungsroman in a cross-cultural context. Particular attention will be given to questions of racial and ethnic identity, migration, colonialism, memory, trauma, belonging and sexuality. We will also explore the connection of the Bildungsroman with genres such as autobiography, family memoir, young adult fiction, graphic novel, and film. Writers studied in this module include Richard Wright, Jamaica Kincaid, Sandra Cisneros, Sherman Alexie, Jhumpa Lahiri, Marjane Satrapi, and we will watch films including My Beautiful Laundrette and Bend it Like Beckham.
Private Study: 268 hours
Contact Hours: 32 hours
Total: 300 hours
Main assessment methods:
Essay 1 3,000 words 40%
Essay 2 3,000 words 40%
Seminar Participation 20%
Reassessment methods
100% Coursework (4,500 words)
The University is committed to ensuring that core reading materials are in accessible electronic format in line with the Kent Inclusive Practices. The most up to date reading list for each module can be found on the university's reading list pages: https://kent.rl.talis.com/index.html
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
The intended subject specific learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 critically evaluate a variety of coming-of-age narratives from the US, Caribbean, Asia, and Europe, including genres such as autobiography, short story sequence, family memoir, young adult fiction, graphic novel, and film;
2 demonstrate a systematic understanding of the different literary traditions and movements out of which the texts arise, and how these in turn might be articulated within, and interrogative of, the Bildungsroman tradition;
3 apply accurately a range of established theoretical, aesthetic, and cultural perspectives to the study of twentieth- and twenty-first century coming-of-age narratives;
4 demonstrate sophisticated analytical skills as well as historically situated approaches to key concepts in the field such as race/ethnicity, immigration, diaspora, memory, trauma, space, gender, colonialism, and sexuality over the last century;
5 consolidate and extend their capacity to structure nuanced arguments centred on the close relationship between aesthetics and politics in literature.
The intended generic learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 deploy sophisticated close reading techniques to a range of literary texts and, to a lesser extent, films, to make productive and complex comparisons between them;
2 demonstrate further development of the skills necessary for participating in group discussions and presenting their ideas using a variety of methods, including communicating ideas to specialist and non-specialist audiences;
3 demonstrate an increased capacity for self-directed research and the ability to discuss, evaluate and creatively deploy secondary critical and theoretical perspectives making use of appropriate scholarly sources;
4 demonstrate an ability to frame and identify appropriate research questions and to construct original, articulate and well-substantiated arguments).
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