PH304-30 Textual Studies
Introductory description
Textual Studies is a core module for 3rd year students on the Philosophy & Literature degree. Students on this degree have one term of joint teaching in their 1st year, and this 3rd year module builds on that work, along with the intervening study in Philosophy and in English, to complete the degree with a full-year, jointly taught module. The core 1st and 2nd year modules on the degree are assumed.
Module aims
Textual Studies aims to engage students with in-depth inquiry into texts and issues that benefit from combined literary and philosophical study. The module is intellectually and pedagogically central to the Philosophy & Literature BA course. It addresses the literary and philosophical concerns that animate specific works, as well as broad questions about the relations between literary and philosophical practices (e.g., what problems, methods, and values do these practices share? how do they conflict with, complement, and interact with each other?). Students are encouraged in this final year to develop their intellectual independence and to find their own ways of combining the disciplines in their interpretative, critical, and constructive theoretical work.
The module is organised around seminar and tutorial meetings: students meet for nine weeks across Terms 1 and 2 for a jointly taught seminar that focuses on three texts. The texts are chosen in general with an eye to their richness as sources for joint study, but also with some of the following considerations in mind: that as a group they represent different historical periods, different genres and formal modes, and differences in philosophical orientation while sharing thematic links. Students are furthermore required to write one substantial essay on texts and topics they choose for themselves (addressing texts not studied in the seminar). Each student has two tutorials, held with both tutors, to provide supervision on the essay.
Outline syllabus
This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.
Sample syllabus
Core texts: Plato, Phaedrus; Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols; Flannery O’Connor, Complete Stories
Term 1
Weeks 1, 2, 3:
Introduction to module, including discussion of independent essay projects
Seminar meetings, with group work and presentations, on the Phaedrus
Themes and problems: displacement and recantation, from city, reason, self, and text; poetic and philosophical status of Socrates’ fable; mythical, divine, and monstrous transformation; writing versus speech in relation to rhetoric and truth
Weeks 4, 5, 7 (reading week in Week 6):
Seminar meetings, with group work and presentations, on Twilight of the Idols
Themes and problems: truth, illusion, and will; style and self-creation; needing and rejecting tradition; aphorism, authority and irony; Dionysus and human aspirations in philosophy and art
Weeks 8, 9, 10:
Individual tutorials, held with both tutors, on essay plans
Term 2
Weeks 1, 2, 3:
Seminar meetings, with group work and presentations, on O’Connor stories
Themes and problems: irrationality, submission, and faith; transforming powers of violence and of love; normality and fraudulence in relation to self and other; satire, cruelty, indifference, and ethical responsibility
Weeks 7, 8, 9:
Individual tutorials, held with both tutors, on essay drafts
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
- Show understanding of central concepts and methods deployed in literary and philosophical inquiry, and understanding of thematic issues linking texts across literary and philosophical traditions
- Express views effectively in speech and writing, communicate and work together well with peers, organise and keep to deadlines on independent work
- Identify central themes and arguments in texts, provide detailed textual support for interpretations, respond critically to arguments and interpretations, and reflect on methodological issues
- Use research skills relevant to both literary and philosophical study, including competent use of library resources (secondary literature, search engines, bibliographies) and management of sources contributing to independent research
Indicative reading list
Core texts with sample of secondary readings drawn on for each
Plato, Phaedrus, tr. Christopher Rowe (Penguin Classics, 2005)
Derrida, J. ‘Plato’s pharmacy’, in his Dissemination, tr. B. Johnson (Athlone & Chicago, 1981)
Ferrari, G. R. F., Listening to the Cicadas: A Study of Plato’s Phaedrus (Cambridge UP, 1987)
Nussbaum, M. C., ‘”This story isn’t true”: madness, reason and recantation in the Phaedrus’, in her The Fragility of Goodness (Cambridge UP, 1986)
Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols, trans. R. Polt (Hackett, 1997)
Kaufman, W. Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist (Princeton UP, 1974)
Reginster, B. ‘The will to power and the ethics of creativity’, in Nietzsche and Morality, eds. B. Leiter and N. Sinhababu (Oxford UP, 2007)
Warner, M. ‘Nietzsche’s philosophical hammer’, in his Philosophical Finesse: Studies in the Art of Rational Persuasion (Clarendon Press, 1989)
Flannery O’Connor, Complete Stories (Faber & Faber, 2004)
Bell, V. ‘On the critique of secular ethics: an essay with Flannery O’Connor and Hannah Arendt’, Theory, Culture and Society 22, 2005
Cobb, J. ‘Pascal’s wager and two modern losers’, Philosophy and Literature 3, 1979
Humphries, J. ‘Proust, Flannery O’Connor, and the aesthetic of violence’, in Flannery O’Connor, ed. H. Bloom (Chelsea House, 1986)
View reading list on Talis Aspire
Interdisciplinary
This module is taught by two departments: Philosophy, and English and Comparative Literary Studies.
Subject specific skills
Students will:
develop their abilities to understand major works of philosophy and literature
develop their capacity for various aspects of textual analysis: formal, literary, philosophical, etc.
develop an advanced capacity for interpretative reading of difficult material
develop a grasp of the relations and differences between philosophical modes of reading
develop their capacities for independent research and formulating an original project
Transferable skills
students will:
hone their ability to express themselves clearly and concisely
develop of their skills of analysis, interpretation, argument and presentation
develop their capacity to understand difficult material
develop their capacity to work alone and in small groups
develop an ability to research, synthesise and summarise
Study time
| Type | Required |
|---|---|
| Seminars | 18 sessions of 1 hour 30 minutes (9%) |
| Tutorials | 2 sessions of 30 minutes (0%) |
| Private study | 272 hours (91%) |
| Total | 300 hours |
Private study description
No private study requirements defined for this module.
Costs
No further costs have been identified for this module.
You do not need to pass all assessment components to pass the module.
Assessment group C1
| Weighting | Study time | Eligible for self-certification | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000 word essay | 50% | Yes (extension) | |
| Online Examination | 50% | No | |
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A 2-hour exam.
|
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Feedback on assessment
Students receeve detailed written feedback on their essay and individualised feedback on their exam. Students also have an opportunity to submit a 500
Courses
This module is Core for:
- Year 3 of UPHA-VQ72 Undergraduate Philosophy and Literature
- Year 4 of UPHA-VQ73 Undergraduate Philosophy and Literature with Intercalated Year