EN3214 The Country and the City in Scottish Literature

Academic year

2024 to 2025 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 9

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

2-4pm Thursday

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

Module coordinator

Dr P Mackay

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

Module Staff

Dr P Mackay

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

Module description

What and where is Scotland? How have the cities and the countryside of Scotland been created over the last 200 years? And what are the internal and external borders of Scottish literature - psychologically, geographically and formally? By exploring Scottish novels - and poetry - from the early 19th century to the present day we examine the literary construction and deconstruction of Scotland through depictions of its rural and urban spaces. In particular, we analyse dystopian and utopian fantasies, green and gothic tendencies, and nostalgia both for the lost idyllic countryside and for gritty, urban 'reality', to ask if Scotland as a literary construction makes sense - and if it needs to. (Group E)

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

2 x 1-hour seminar, and 2 optional consultative hours.

Scheduled learning hours

22

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

Guided independent study hours

278

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

Intended learning outcomes

  • Analyse and discuss literary texts from different periods in formal and thematic terms
  • Show evidence of wider reading and an understanding of the historical and literary contexts of texts' production
  • Display an awareness of the critical issues surrounding the discussion of Scottish literature, and in particular how they are applied to constructions of the city or rural spaces, especially in terms of class and gender
  • Deploy a critical vocabulary for discussing Scottish literature
  • Demonstrate the transferrable skills of textual analysis and the ability to construct and deliver logical arguments.