This module will develop students’ ability to respond intellectually to the writing of European modernity. Beginning with Early Modern writing such as Shakespeare and culminating with the work of the Modernists, the module surveys the period of literary modernity, thinking about the ways in which literary development intersects with an increasingly globalised, modernised world. From Shakespeare, through the birth of the novel to Modernism, this module charts the course of radical artistic change.

Learning journal: to consist of two equally weighted elements. (LOs: 4)¿¿

A reflection upon a contribution to class learning on the module, using authentic forms such as podcasts, presentations, vlogs, leading group sessions¿(these may be done in pairs or alone), blogs, poster presentations. Reflection should show the detail of what the student intended to convey, how and why. Reflection should also show how the contribution was received and what the student would do differently next time.¿

Second entry in the journal will be a reflection upon a ‘verbal pitch’: student must pitch their ideas for their final assignment to a tutor. Reflection should detail the plans for the assignment, the tutor’s feedback, and how the student intends to action that. ¿



Essay – a literary-critical essay on 2 texts from the module. Topic agreed with tutor. (LOs: 1,2,3 4)

Teaching will be delivered by weekly workshops which will involve segments of lecture, discussion activities, student participation and analytical practice.

1. show knowledge and critical understanding of the major techniques and themes in the literature of European modernity.
2. analyse text through close reading informed by historical context and critical debates
3. articulate a coherent analytical discussion in written form
4. Reflect on contributions to class learning.

Shakespeare:

Macbeth
Twelfth Night
A Winter’s Tale

18th century
Jonathan Swift, ‘A Modest Proposal’
Poetry

Victorian
Charles Dickens, Great Expectations (1860)
Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (1847)
Charles Baudelaire, poems
Christina Rosetti, poems
Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D’Urbervilles (1891)

20th century
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (1902)
TS Eliot, ‘The Wasteland’ (1922)
Virginia Woolf, Orlando (1928)
Samuel Beckett, Endgame (1957)

Alexander, C.M.S. (2009) The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare’s Last Plays. Cambridge University Press.
Cheney, P. (2007) The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare’s Poetry. Cambridge University Press.
De Grazia, M. and Wells, S. (2001) The Cambridge companion to Shakespeare. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hamlin, H. (2019) The Cambridge companion to Shakespeare and religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jackson, R. (2020) The Cambridge companion to Shakespeare on screen. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
McEachern, C. (2013) The Cambridge Companion to Shakespearean Tragedy. Second edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
McEvoy, S. (2012) Shakespeare. London: Taylor & Francis Group.
Magnusson, L. and Schalkwyk, D. (2019) The Cambridge companion to Shakespeare’s language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Smith, E. (2016) The Cambridge companion to Shakespeare’s First Folio. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Thompson, A. (2021) The Cambridge companion to Shakespeare and race. Cambridge, United Kingdom¿;: Cambridge University Press.
Wells, S. and Stanton, S. (2002) The Cambridge companion to Shakespeare on stage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cunningham, V. (2014) Victorian Poets: A Critical Reader, 1st edn. Wiley-Blackwell: Chichester.¿
David, D. (2012) The Cambridge Companion to the Victorian Novel. Cambridge University Press.¿¿
Khan, J.U. (2015) Perspectives: Romantic, Victorian and Modern Literature, 1st edn. Cambridge Scholars Publishing: Newcastle-upon-Tyne.¿
Marshall, G. (2007) The Cambridge Companion to the Fin de Siècle. Cambridge University Press.¿
Martens, B. (2016) Browning, Victorian Poetics and the Romantic Legacy: Challenging the Personal Voice. Routledge: Farnham.¿
Peterson, L.H. (2015) The Cambridge Companion to Victorian Women’s Writing. Cambridge University Press.¿¿
Shattock, J. (2010) The Cambridge Companion to English Literature, 1830–1914. Cambridge University Press.¿¿
Shea, V. & Whitlaw, W. (2015) Victorian Literature: An Anthology. Wiley-Blackwell: Hoboken.¿
Tucker, H.F. (2014) A New Companion to Victorian Literature and Culture, Wiley-Blackwell: Hoboken.¿
Levenson, M (2011), The Cambridge Companion to Modernism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Berman, M (1982). All That is Solid Melts into Air. London: Verso.
Childs, P. (2016). Modernism. London: Routledge.

Library, Film Theatre, Blackboard.

This module will develop your ability to respond intellectually to the writing of European modernity. Beginning with Early Modern writing such as Shakespeare and culminating with the work of the Modernists, the module surveys the period of literary modernity, thinking about the ways in which literary development intersects with an increasingly globalised, modernised world. From Shakespeare, through the birth of the novel to Modernism, this module charts the course of radical artistic change.