EN2G9-15 Queering the Literary Landscape: LGBTQ+ Literature and Culture in the Contemporary World
Introductory description
EN2G9-15 Queering the Literary Landscape: LGBTQ+ Literature and Culture in the Contemporary World
Module aims
This module complements the 15-CAT module “EN372: Queer and There: Queer Theory and the History of Sexuality in the Global Context.” It aims to familiarise students with a range of literature by LGBTQ+ writers, filmmakers, and artists, largely from the Anglophone world. Through critical and theoretical readings, students will learn about the history of queer representation in the 20th and 21st centuries. Among the topics we will cover are: the reclaiming of the gay and lesbian past, the effect of obscenity trials on queer expression, narrating the AIDS crisis, homosociality, queer reading practices, the development of the LGBT canon, intersectionality (with critical methodologies surrounding race, gender, imperialism, and historical and anthropological approaches), and remediation. We will also look at debates around introducing queer identities to children through literary texts. A particular focus will be on fiction and the novel as forms that have a particular (though not necessarily privileged) relationship to questions of queer interiority and the narration of same-sex acts and identities.
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.
Week 1: Introduction. How to Study the Literature of Homosexuality.
Week 2: The History of Queer Expression 1: Mädchen in Uniform and Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness
Week 3: The History of Queer Expression 2: Basil Dearden’s Victim and Rodney Garland’s The Heart in Exile
Week 4: The History of Queer Expression 3: James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room and Jean Genet’s Un Chant d’Amour
Week 5: Backward Glances: Sarah Waters’s Fingersmith and Park Chan Wook’s The Handmaiden
Week 6: Reading Week
Week 7: Queer Culture in Britain 1: Jackie Kay’s Trumpet
Week 8: Queer Culture in Britain 2: Allan Hollinghurst’s The Swimming Pool Library OR Colm Toibin’s The Story of the Night
Week 9: Queer Culture in Southern Africa 1: K. Selo Duiker’s Thirteen Cents
Week 10: Queer Culture in Southern Africa 2: Tatamkhulu Africa’s Bitter Eden
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
- Adjust to honours-level scholarly standards and protocols of academic presentation
- Acquire knowledge and understanding of key theoretical concepts
- Develop argumentative skills in academic essays
- Exhibit an effective command of written English together with a wide-ranging and accurate vocabulary
- Explore the interaction between theoretical and critical methodologies and contexts and literary texts
- Develop skills in applying queer approaches to literary texts
- Acquire and demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the set texts in their cultural, political, and social contexts
- Develop an understanding of some of the key issues and problems surrounding the production and reception of queer literature and the representation of gender and sexuality
- Refine their skills in working with theoretical materials and in using theory in conjunction with literature
- Show command of the protocols of textual analysis and critical argument
- Consider the importance of literary and theoretical engagements with the world we live in
- Develop an original research topic focused on the module’s special topic
- Engage with digital media and its relevance to the study of literature and culture
Subject specific skills
No subject specific skills defined for this module.
Transferable skills
No transferable skills defined for this module.
Study time
| Type | Required |
|---|---|
| Seminars | 9 sessions of 1 hour 30 minutes (9%) |
| Private study | 136 hours 30 minutes (91%) |
| Total | 150 hours |
Private study description
Reading & research
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 A1
| Weighting | Study time | Eligible for self-certification | |
|---|---|---|---|
Assessment component |
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| Short response to course material | 20% | Yes (extension) | |
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1,000-word short response to course material |
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Reassessment component is the same |
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Assessment component |
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| Revision to a Wikipedia entry | 10% | Yes (extension) | |
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One revision to a Wikipedia entry relating to the course material |
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Reassessment component is the same |
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Assessment component |
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| Asessment 3 | 70% | Yes (extension) | |
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One 3,000-word essay |
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Reassessment component is the same |
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Feedback on assessment
Via Tabula & face to face
Courses
This module is Optional for:
- Year 2 of UENA-Q300 Undergraduate English Literature
- Year 2 of UENA-QP36 Undergraduate English Literature and Creative Writing
- Year 2 of UTHA-QW34 Undergraduate English and Theatre Studies
This module is Option list C for:
- Year 2 of UCXA-QQ37 Undergraduate Classics and English
This module is Option list D for:
- Year 2 of UPHA-VQ72 Undergraduate Philosophy and Literature