BA English Literature and French

This course unit considers issues of periodisation, historiography, adaptation and cultural appropriation by looking at the myriad ways that the Early Modern period has been reworked and rethought over the past centuries. By looking at key theory from Walter Benjamin to Jacques Derrida, texts by writers as diverse as William Shakespeare, Jeanette Winterson and Caryl Phillips, and media including graphic novels, games, and TV series, the module allows students to think about ethics, representation, colonialism, identity and gender. 

• To explore how the Early Modern Period has been represented in diverse ways in global culture

• To engage in the critical analysis of cultural responses to the Early Modern Period
   
• To consider the representations of the Early Modern period in relation to constructions of gender, sexuality, nation, race, and class
   
• To considers issues of periodisation, historiography, adaptation and cultural appropriation by looking at the myriad ways that the Early Modern period has been reworked and rethought over the past centuries
   
• To develop students’ skills of written expression and production of coherent arguments, at a level appropriate to work that will form part of the final assessment

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• Critically reflect upon different types of representation, adaptation, pastiche and reworking
   
• Use a range of theoretical templates and methodologies when approaching a range of non-canonical texts and media forms
   
• Work individually and as a group on approaching and solving key research challenges

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• Discuss a range of different ways of representing historical periods
   
• Critically reflect upon modes of representation
   
• Show an awareness of the diverse ways that the Early Modern period has been represented, and to critically evaluate some of these iterations
   
• Be able to use a range of methodologies and theoretical approaches

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• Think critically about particular media forms and the representation of the past
   
• Approach a number of key methodological and theoretical models
   
• Make reasoned, substantiated arguments for a particular point of view.
   
• Work with a developed critical and conceptual vocabulary appropriate to the subject matter and level of the module

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• Work collaboratively on the production of assessed work
   
• Use several databases including BoB, EEBO, ECCO
   
• Think conceptually about issues of representation
   
• Demonstrate an ability to work in a seminar setting, workshop setting, and individually

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• Work collaboratively and independently on major pieces of work
   
• Manage their time effectively
   
• Show a clearly developed sense of how enquiry relates to learning
   
• Show an ability to construct and defend complex arguments through textual evidence, both in writing and in seminar discussions
   
• Show an ability to prepare, organize and present material in a coherent manner to peers

Formal feedback: via Blackboard to all submissions

Informal feedback: via study group, peer feedback to presentations and submissions, tutor one-to-one discussions

There will be a facility for groups to discuss issues with me independently, particularly to do with assessment problems

Shakespeare, Richard III 

Jeanette Winterson, Sexing the Cherry 

Orhan Pamuk, My Name is Red

Caryl Philips, The Nature of Blood