AMS-20064 - Module Specification
School of Humanities
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2020/21

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2020/21

This module analyses the major form of the American novel in the Nineteenth Century, defined as "Romance" to distinguish it from the European novel which expresses itself predominantly in realistic form. Congruent with political and social ambitions for democracy, the Romance suggests liberations of various kinds, principally a freedom from the constraints of too close an allegiance with the visible world, and as an alternative, proposes an arena of imaginative free-play which questions the seeming givens of that visibility. Here, the form is strongly bound up with providing alternative views and understandings of history.

The module introduces students to the work of some of the major canonical writers of the Nineteenth Century. These writers have often been said to work in the genre/tradition of the "Romance", and the module seeks both to define that term and to analyse what ideas or literary strategies they held in common. In the work of post-WW2 literary critics, there has been an assumption that Romance was primarily interested in questions of individual psychology; the module explores some of the ways in which Romance forms may also be seen to be interested in questions of history.

Intended Learning Outcomes

analyse and discuss the work of major canonical writers of American novels in the Nineteenth Century: 1,2
describe and evaluate basic features of mult-disciplinary scholarship (literary, historical and/or political) relating to study of the United States during the Nineteenth Century: 1,2
describe and analyse basic features of the social, historical, and political identity of the United States in the Nineteenth Century: 1,2
relate textual analysis to social, cultural and historical contexts: 1,2
employ the basic bibliographical, referencing, and presentation requirements of the core disciplines: 1,2
define the genre/tradition of the 'Romance' and analyse underlying ideas and literary strategies: 1,2

Study hours

11 x 1-hour lectures;
11 x 1-hour seminars;
11 x 4-hour seminar preparation;
84 hours assignment preparation; and private study

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment