CO4035 Literary Geographies

Academic year

2024 to 2025 Semester 2

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

15

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.

Planned timetable

TBC

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

Module coordinator

Dr N Sreenan

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

Module Staff

Dr Robin MacKenzie, Dr Niall Sreenan, Dr Keru Cai, Dr Damiano Benvegnu

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

Module description

This module will introduce students to the relatively new field of literary geography. Against the backdrop of what has been called the ‘spatial turn’ in literary and cultural studies (and indeed the humanities more generally), we will examine a range of geographically-inflected approaches to literature and other art forms (e.g. cinema, painting, photography), including literary cartography in its different manifestations (Moretti, Piatti) and geocriticism as theorised and practised by Bertrand Westphal. The second part of the module will be devoted to a series of case studies – under the broad and provisional headings of ‘Cities’, ‘Borderlands’ and ‘Islands’ – approached from a variety of theoretical perspectives, including but not necessarily limited to those outlined above.

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisites

PERMISSION OF HONOURS ADVISER IN COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

Assessment pattern

Coursework - 100%

Re-assessment

Coursework - 100%

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

A 1.5-hour seminar per week for 10 weeks. Students will also have access to weekly office hours.

Scheduled learning hours

17

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

Guided independent study hours

132

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

Intended learning outcomes

  • Critically assess some of the principal literary-geographical theories and methodologies
  • Evaluate the opportunities and challenges presented by an avowedly interdisciplinary approach to the study of texts
  • Plan and realise a short literary-geographical project involving the study of a specific groups of texts (Moretti) or a particular location (Piatti, Westphal)
  • Develop their skills in the areas of research, textual analysis and interpretation and written communication.