This module will introduce students to a wide range of contemporary literature written in English, where 'contemporary' is taken to refer to twenty-first century work. It will equip students with critical ideas and theoretical concepts that will help them to understand the literature of their own time. Students will consider examples of a range of genres: poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction and the essay. They will also be selectively introduced to key ideas in contemporary theory and philosophy. Over the course of the module, students will be encouraged to read texts in a number of contexts. They will consider writers’ responses to, for instance, questions of migration, environmental change, austerity, and crisis. They will also consider a range of aesthetic developments and departures, for example: the turn to creative non-fiction; the re-emergence of the political essay. The module will not focus on a given national context. Instead it will set contemporary writing against the background of identifiably international issues and concerns. In so doing it will draw attention to non-national publishing strategies and audiences. Overall, the module will aim to show how writers are responding to the present period, how their work illuminates and reflects current cultural concerns. Throughout, we will explore both thematic and formal concerns.
Total contact hours: 32
Private study hours: 268
Total study hours: 300
Main assessment methods
Essay 1 (2,500 words) – 40%
Essay 2 (2,500 words) – 40%
Seminar Performance – 20%
Reassessment methods
Alternative Assessment: 100% coursework (4,000 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 Demonstrate an informed understanding of twenty-first century literature across a number of genres and sub-genres.
2 Demonstrate knowledge of some of the major literary, cultural and political issues that matter to contemporary writers.
3 Demonstrate awareness of some developments in the critical understanding of literature in the contemporary period.
4 Demonstrate a developing sense of the different forms of writing in this period and a growing capacity to analyse them critically.
The intended generic learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 Apply the skills needed for academic study and inquiry
2 Synthesise information from a number of sources in order to gain a coherent understanding of texts and contexts; ability to synthesise material from a number of sources in a coherent creative whole
3 Frame criticism of diverse sources thoughtfully and incisively in a variety of formats
4 Demonstrate powers of communication and the capacity to make a case, through a range of methods, with clarity, organisation and conviction
5 Enhance confidence in the presentation of ideas designed to stimulate critical debate
6 Understand, interrogate and pursue a variety of theoretical insights and weigh the importance of alternative perspectives.
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