MLitt in Cultural Identity Studies
This flagship Masters programme draws on the literary and linguistic expertise of all the Modern Language Departments at St Andrews, as well as on perspectives of related academic disciplines and of critical theory, to explore the much discussed contemporary problem of collective identities as modelled by and expressed in national cultures. Specialisations in Arabic, French, Italian, German, Spanish and Russian are possible. Graduates of UK, European and Overseas Universities with a degree involving one of the languages that we teach in the School of Modern Languages, or comparable competent knowledge, are welcome to apply.
Problems of 'cultural identity' are the everyday coinage of our news bulletins. They are as contemporary as the many dislocations which challenge or question who 'we' are, as extensive as the system of practices, references and values we call 'culture' ,and as perennial as the human need for collective belonging and memory and for a shared 'identity'.
How are cultural identities constructed? How do they work? How do they survive and change? What can we understand of this central and elusive sense of collective selfhood?
The MLitt in Cultural Identity Studies offers a chance to gain both a theoretical grasp of the different factors and dimensions of the problem of cultural identity and a chance to explore the ways in which this identity is representedand reflected upon in one or more of the cultural traditionsn studied in our School of Modern Languages.
The course will be of interest to those with an academic or research concern in such questions and to those who recognise the value of such a background for careers in social and educational administration, broadcasting, journalism, parliamentary research and support work within a Scottish, UK and international framework.
The academic environment is that provided by the Institute of European Cultural Identity Studies, whose seminar series, conferences, European research network, publications, facilities and funding provide the support matrix for the MLitt.
The course consists of:
Taught modules amounting to 120 credits over two semesters (60 credits per semester), plus a 60-credit Dissertation to be planned during the year and written up during the summer, with a deadline in August.
The taught part is made up of compulsory and optional modules, as follows:
Two compulsory core modules, representing 40 credits out of the 60 credits of Semester 1.
ML5001 Introduction of the theory and practice of research in literary and cultural studies. Topics covered include: practical use of research resources; structuring your work and giving oral presentations; space and time in narrative, reader-response theories, gender criticism and post-colonial approaches to literature.
Reading for this course, which you may like to start during the summer:
Core Texts:
Joseph Conrad, ‘Heart of Darkness’. ed. Paul B. Armstrong. (New York, London: Norton, 2006).
Apocalypse Now (Film). Director Francis Ford Coppola (1979).
James Joyce, Dubliners (London: Penguin).
Secondary texts:
Philip Rice & Patricia Waugh Modern Literary Theory: A Reader (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001)
Peter Barry Beginning Theory (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2002)
Terry Eagleton Literary Theory: An Introduction (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996)
Julie Rivkin & Michael Ryan Literary Theory: An Anthology (Oxford: Blackwell 1998)
K.M. Newton Twentieth-Century Literary Theory: A Reader (London: MacMillan, 1997)
ML5006 Problems of Culture and Identity 1. The module explores how cultural identities are constructed by focusing on a series of problems and cases. Topics covered include: the concepts of culture and identity; literary canon formation; collective memory, historiography and myth; cultural hybridity.Reading for this course, which you may like to start during the summer, includes the following:
Books about Britain: George Mikes, How to be an alien (London: Penguin, 1946); Bill Bryson, Notes from a Small Island (London: Doubleday, 1995); Jeremy Paxman, The English: A Portrait of a People (London: Penguin, 1999); Iqbal Ahmed, Empire of the mind: A Journey Through Great Britain (London, Constable: 2007).
Secondary texts:
E. Renan, Qu'est-ce qu'une nation? et autres textes politiques (Paris: presses-pocket, 1992). English translation in Nation and narration, ed. Homi K. Bhabha (London & New York: Routledge, 1990). Also an Internet version at: http://www.cooper.edu/humanities/core/hss3/e_renan.html
Kristeva, Julia. Strangers to ourselves. Trans L. Roudiez, New York/London: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1992.
Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (London: Verso, 2006)
Davies, Norman. The Isles, A History (MacMillan, 1999).
Woodward, Kath. Understanding Identity. London: Arnold, 2002.
In addition, students choose 80 credits from a number of other modules; please see the table listing the courses available for the current academic year at the Mundus Pathways page.
The Dissertation may develop from any of the modules studied.
The Director of the MLitt in Cultural Identity Studies is Dr Gustavo San Román, email gfsr@st-andrews.ac.uk.
Administrative support is provided by Ms Alison Ferrier ajf21@st-andrews.ac.uk.