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Overview

This module will take as its focus the textual response to inherited mythic structures: how myth may be perceived in theoretical terms as a proairetic discourse; how it establishes affinities with certain genres (e.g. epic, tragedy, romance); and how in more contemporary cultural debates it has been problematised by expectations of falsehood. The seminar programme will change from year to year but typically the modules ranges from Ancient Greek representations of myth, medieval accounts in dramatic and/or prose narrative, varying accounts of saints’ lives, and the changing importance of ancient mythologies in literary narrative. More contemporary periods may include explorations of such pervasive constructs as the Founding of Empire, The American Dream, Orientalism and the Other, and The War on Terror.

The seminar programme will changes from year to year but typically the modules ranges from Ancient Greek representations of myth (e.g. Medea, Homer, Plato) to medieval accounts in dramatic and/or prose narrative (e.g. Thomas Beckett) and to varying accounts of saints’ lives. In the early modern period attention may be devoted to the changing importance of ancient mythologies in literary narrative (e.g. Neoplatonism, chivalric romance). In the more contemporary periods, options also change from year to year, but may include explorations of such pervasive constructs as the Founding of Empire (Kipling, Lessing), The American Dream (Capote, Fitzgerald, Highsmith), Orientalism and the Other (Henry James, Du Maurier, Highsmith), and The War on Terror (Buchan, Fleming, and Porter’s Empire State), for example.

Assessment Strategy

-threshold -D- - D+: In order to merit the award of credit, students should demonstrate a solid comprehension of the position, content and interaction of the works of the theoreticians studied, succeeding in giving a clear analysis of their work. They should also demonstrate an awareness of critical thinking on the topic. -good -C- - B+: Students attaining the higher grades in this course will not only have understood the theories studied in their own right, but will explore their broader interaction in relation to the structures of identity, language and reality, paying close attention to the imagery and content of the works in question. -excellent -A- - A*: Students attaining the highest grades in this course will have produced convincing readings of both the theories studied and of their relationship as a whole. They will have supplemented set works with the confident use of either additional primary or secondary works. They will have demonstrated a very high level of engagement with the language and ideas of the pieces studied.

Learning Outcomes

• Analyse the diversity of English literature produced from antiquity to the contemporary period

• Conduct close textual analysis and critical interpretation

• Identify and apply a range of textual interpretative strategies

• Identify and apply the requisite skills to exploit library collection, most particularly with reference to the early modern texts and databases of early modern literature.