ObjectivesThis degree introduces key texts and paradigms that shape our conception of literature from the early twentieth century to the present. You will gain a thorough grounding in the key concepts of modernism, modernity and the contemporary. The course begins with an investigation of literary and theoretical conceptions of modernity in early twentieth-century literature, focusing on topics such as urbanisation, technology, mass culture, individualism and subjectivity. You will also have the chance to analyse the historical transformations of literature and cultural thought from 1945, using the contexts of post-war reconstruction, decolonisation, the fate of avant-garde art, and theories of post-modernity and globalisation. The emergence of international literary paradigms during the twentieth century is reflected in the choice of texts from British, American and post-colonial contexts.
Entry requirementsEntry requirements Good second-class degree in English or a related subject. If English is not your first language, an IELTS score of 7.0 or equivalent is required. Non-standard entry qualifications or appropriate training and experience will be considered.
Academic titleModern and Contemporary Literature (MA)
Course descriptionCore course 1: Becoming Modern
Includes: Theodor Adorno, The Cultural Industry Reconsidered; Charles Baudelaire, The Painter of Modern Life; Jürgen Habermas, Modernity - An Incomplete Project?; Georg Simmel, The Metropolis and Mental Life; Futurist Manifestos; TS Eliot; James Joyce; Wyndham Lewis; Dorothy Richardson; Virginia Woolf.
Core course 2: Post-War to Contemporary
Includes: Jean-François Lyotard, The Post-modern Condition; Fredric Jameson, Post-modernism; Iain Sinclair; Angela Carter; Thomas Pynchon; JG Ballard.
Two options, which vary from year to year, and may include:
-Modernism and the Ideal Society
-Reading Time in the Twentieth Century
-Sexualities ofModernism
-Contemporary US Fiction
-British Fiction since 1979
-Contemporary British Poetry
-Contemporary Theatre and its Audiences.
Dissertation on any aspect of twentieth-century and contemporary literature, written from Easter to September in your final year.