AMS-30038 - Module Specification
School of Humanities
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2023/24

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2023/24

The module aims to study literature dealing with a range of intoxicants - e.g., alcohol, heroin, LSD, and peyote - in order to consider the relationship between American literature and the issues - e.g. social, cultural, political psychological, medical, philosophical, aesthetic - raised through the focus on drug experience.
Rather than taking a biographical approach (which might, for example, focus on the role of drink in the writing of Lost Generation authors like Hemingway and Fitzgerald), the module focuses on representations of individuals or groups involved in sub- and counter-cultural use of mind-altering and/or addictive substances. The first half of the module focuses on addiction, the second half on the visionary potentials of psychedelic substances. Assessments are likewise divided into a short paper focusing on addiction and a long essay focusing on the relation between literary form and visionary drugs.
The emphasis on studying formal features of texts may also include comparative analysis of Hollywood adaptations. The module is suitable for those who have already studied literature, and experience of studying film would be an advantage.
Students will be expected to buy their own copies of all the set books - in the required editions - and to read widely for the research-based long essay.
Likely texts include: The Lost Weekend by Charles Jackson; Junky by William Burroughs; The Yage Letters by Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg; Breaking Open the Head by Daniel Pinchbeck; The Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda.

To study the social, cultural, psychological, medical, philosophical, and aesthetic dimensions of works dealing with three decades of American history that are concerned with a range of intoxicants - alcohol, heroin, LSD, and peyote.
To develop advanced level analysis of literary texts in relation to American wartime and postwar culture, including film.

Intended Learning Outcomes

situate sub- and counter-cultural groups to broader social, psychological, medical, philosophical, and cultural issues in wartime and postwar American culture: 1,2
critically analyse the aesthetic dimensions of a range of textual representations to an advanced level: 1,2
relate literary and filmic representations to wartime and postwar American culture to an advanced level: 1,2

Study hours

36 hours teaching, comprising: 12 x 2-hour seminars + 4 x 1 hour lectures + 4 x 2 hour workshops (lectures/workshops may be online and/or in person). 114 hours independent study, comprising: 34 hour seminar preparation; 30 hours Short Paper preparation; 50 hours long essay preparation.

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment