Gwybodaeth Modiwlau
Module Identifier
EN33730
Module Title
Postmodern Fictions
Academic Year
2013/2014
Co-ordinator
Semester
Intended for use in future years
Course Delivery
Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
---|---|
Seminars / Tutorials | 20 Hours. Seminar. (10 x 2 hr seminar workshops) |
Assessment
Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
---|---|---|
Semester Assessment | 2 x 3000 word essays Continuous Assessment: | 100% |
Supplementary Assessment | Resubmit or resit failed elements and/or make good any missing elements |
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the module, students will be able to:
1. describe and appraise the main theories of and debates within postmodernism;
2. relate theories and practices of postmodernism to set texts;
3. describe the broad effects of postmodern devices on literary and cultural forms;
4. apply examples from the arguments of principal exponents of postmodern theory;
5. comment critically on the material chosen for study;
6. engage in coherent oral discussion of the texts and background material;
7. write about the subject in a well-structured and argued manner.
Brief description
Currently a buzz word, everything appears to be 'postmodern': the clothes you wear, the houses in which we live and the culture with which we engage. This option will focus on the theories and practices of postmodernism.
- To what does the 'post' refer?
- How is it (un)connected to modernism?
- What are the ramifications for literary practice?
- Framing the device, the death of the author, the destructible text, the unwriting of the text: what have we learned from such techniques?
- In what sense has self-reflexiveness made the writing of fiction more interesting and perhaps even more potent?
- To what extent have the interrogations of self-reflexivity liberated the novel from certain obsolete conventions?
Content
_PROGRAMME
Seminar 1: Theories of Postmodernism
Extracts from Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism; Jean-Francois Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition
Seminar 2: The Novel Undone
Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49
Seminar 3: Deconstructing Fiction
Paul Auster, The New York Trilogy
Seminar 4: Poetry in the Age of Electronic Reproduction
Extracts from American L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E Poets: Susan Howe, Lyn Hejinian, Ron Silliman, Bob Perelman, Charles Bernstein
Seminar 5: Postmodern Thought Experiments
Scarlett Thomas, The End of Mr Y
Seminar 6: Postmodern Identities
Winterson, The Powerbook
Seminar 7: Architecture and Urbanicity
Charles Jencks, The Emergent Rules; Robert Venturi, The Duck and the Decorated Shed; Paolo Portoghesi, Postmodern
Seminar 8: Other Worlds
William Gibson, Neuromancer
Seminar 9: Magic Realism
Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children
Seminar 10: Postmodern and Film
Discussion of various postmodern films, including Blade Runner, The Matrix, A Cock and Bull Story, The Draughtsmans's Contract
_Bibliographies
There is currently a vast proliferation of texts and studies of postmodernism and its various impacts upon spheres of our society. There is a good selection of the principal texts in the Hugh Owen Library (and this is well supplemented by texts in the National Library). Additional bibliographies concerning individual writers will be compiled and given to students on a weekly basis. The Hugh Owen Library has large holdings on most of the authors represented on this course (including writers not mentioned but nevertheless prominent in postmodern culture).
Seminar 1: Theories of Postmodernism
Extracts from Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism; Jean-Francois Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition
Seminar 2: The Novel Undone
Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49
Seminar 3: Deconstructing Fiction
Paul Auster, The New York Trilogy
Seminar 4: Poetry in the Age of Electronic Reproduction
Extracts from American L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E Poets: Susan Howe, Lyn Hejinian, Ron Silliman, Bob Perelman, Charles Bernstein
Seminar 5: Postmodern Thought Experiments
Scarlett Thomas, The End of Mr Y
Seminar 6: Postmodern Identities
Winterson, The Powerbook
Seminar 7: Architecture and Urbanicity
Charles Jencks, The Emergent Rules; Robert Venturi, The Duck and the Decorated Shed; Paolo Portoghesi, Postmodern
Seminar 8: Other Worlds
William Gibson, Neuromancer
Seminar 9: Magic Realism
Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children
Seminar 10: Postmodern and Film
Discussion of various postmodern films, including Blade Runner, The Matrix, A Cock and Bull Story, The Draughtsmans's Contract
_Bibliographies
There is currently a vast proliferation of texts and studies of postmodernism and its various impacts upon spheres of our society. There is a good selection of the principal texts in the Hugh Owen Library (and this is well supplemented by texts in the National Library). Additional bibliographies concerning individual writers will be compiled and given to students on a weekly basis. The Hugh Owen Library has large holdings on most of the authors represented on this course (including writers not mentioned but nevertheless prominent in postmodern culture).
Reading List
Essential ReadingAuster, Paul (1987) The New York Trilogy Faber Primo search Gibson, William (1986) Neuromancer Harper Collins Primo search Pynchon, Thomas (1967) The Crying of Lot 49 Cape Primo search Rushdie, Salman (1995) Midnight's Children David Campbell Primo search Thomas, Scarlett (2008) The End of Mr. Y Canongate Primo search Winterson, Jeanette (2001) The Powerbook Vintage Primo search Recommended Text
Woods, Tim (1999) Beginning Postmodernism Manchester University Press Primo search Supplementary Text
Bertens, Hans, and Joseph Natoli. (2002) Postmodernism: The Key Figures Blackwell Primo search Callinicos, Alex (2002) Against Postmodernism: A Marxist Critique Polity Press Primo search Docherty, Thomas, ed. (1993) Postmodernism: A Reader Harvester Wheatsheaf Primo search Hassan, Ihab (1971) The Dismemberment of Orpheus: Toward a Postmodern Literature Oxford University Press Primo search Lucy, Niall (2000) Postmodern Literary Theory: An Anthology Blackwell Primo search Malpas, Simon (2005) The Postmodern Routledge Primo search Sardar, Ziauddin (2002) The A-Z of Postmodern Life: Essays on Global Culture in the Noughties Vision Primo search
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6