EN4341 Renaissance Sexualities: Rhetoric and the Body 1580 - 1660

Academic year

2025 to 2026 Semester 2

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

30

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 10

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Availability restrictions

Not automatically available to General Degree students

Planned timetable

2.00 pm Tue and 2.00 pm Thu

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Dr H A R Archer

Dr H A R Archer
This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

To be arranged

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

The Reformation and Renaissance in England saw shifts in thinking about the place of sexuality and gender in society. Changing cultural and economic conditions altered the material expression of identity in writing and on stage, while new conceptions of English religion, literary production, global standing, and political priorities informed the period's articulation of the normative and the deviant. This module will examine the representation of sexuality and gender in poems, prose and drama by men and women between 1580 and 1660, as well as the construction of Renaissance sexualities in modern and postmodern criticism and theory. (Group B)

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisites

BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST PASS EN2003 AND PASS EN2004

Assessment pattern

Coursework = 100%

Re-assessment

exam = 100%

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

1 lecture and 1 seminar, and 2 optional consultative hours.

Scheduled learning hours

44

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

256

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.

Intended learning outcomes

  • Demonstrate knowledge of a range of texts by both canonical and lesser-known writers in a variety of genres, including lyric poetry, prose and drama
  • Analyse the formal and generic properties of Renaissance texts.
  • Understand how form affects the representation of gendered subjectivity
  • Demonstrate a knowledge of contemporary scholarly debates over the history of sexuality and of gender relations in the early modern period.