Master 2023/2024

Modern English Literature (20-21 centuries)

Type: Elective course (Foreign Languages and Intercultural Communication)

Area of studies: Linguistics

Delivered by: School of Foreign Languages

Where: School of Foreign Languages

When: 1 year, 3, 4 module

Mode of studies: distance learning

Online hours: 20

Open to: students of all HSE University campuses

Instructors: Olga A. Kolykhalova

Master’s programme: Иностранные языки и межкультурная коммуникация

Language: English

ECTS credits: 6

Contact hours: 50

Course Syllabus

Abstract

This survey course on the twentieth- and twenty-first-century British and American literature offers an opportunity to study writers and writing from cultures both united and divided by a common language, the English language. As far as literary production and traffic are concerned, the Atlantic Ocean does not form a barrier between the two cultures – quite the opposite, it is often impossible to fully understand contemporary British or American literature without knowing something of the other nation’s culture. Moreover, many writers from this robust period of literary production became expatriates, committed both to international artistic movements and to intellectual affairs of their native countries. Students who decide to join this course will explore British and American literature in all its major forms – prose, poetry and drama, relating it to key social and historical contexts. Through guided discussion and independent research, this course will enable students to study both British and American literature in equal depth, strengthen their ability to read and write critically about literary texts, and help them develop a deeper appreciation of both countries’ entwined literary history. To fulfill the requirements of the course students need to have a good command of written and spoken English (required CEFR language proficiency level is C1).

Learning Objectives

• To broaden one’s knowledge about the body of written works produced in the English language by the inhabitants of the UK and the USA in the 20th and 21st centuries, putting it in the larger theoretical perspective of the history of ideas.
• To increase one’s proficiency in critically reading, reflecting, analyzing, and interpreting a range of assigned Key Texts in the three main forms (prose, poetry, and drama) from a historical and contextual perspective, both orally and in writing.
• To hone one’s Critical Reading, Critical Thinking, and Critical Writing skills necessary for advancing clear and compelling arguments in the interpretation of a text, which in its turn will enable students to communicate their own and other scholars’ interpretations of trends in the history of ideas and in literary texts, showing intercultural understanding and ethical awareness.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• To know key historical events, cultural developments, and artistic movements related to British and American literature at the turn of the 20th century; to read critically, comprehend, and produce clear, informed, independent opinions and judgements on the assigned Key Text(s); to formulate - both orally and in writing - arguable claims and react to others’ ideas about the assigned Key Text(s).
• To know key historical events, cultural developments, and artistic movements related to British and American literature between World War I and World War II; to read critically, comprehend, and produce clear, informed, independent opinions and judgements on the assigned Key Text(s); to formulate - both orally and in writing - arguable claims and react to others’ ideas about the assigned Key Text(s).
• To know key historical events, cultural developments, and artistic movements related to British and American literature from the late 1940s onwards; to read critically, comprehend, and produce clear, informed, independent opinions and judgements on the assigned Key Text(s); to formulate - both orally and in writing - arguable claims and react to others’ ideas about the assigned Key Text(s).

Course Contents

• British and American literature before and during World War I
• British and American literature of the interwar period
• British and American literature from World War II and onwards

Assessment Elements

• Final Project
  Students are to find, read, analyze, and comment on a book of their choice from the list compiled by the course instructor. Next, they are to prepare a compulsory presentation that will sum up their thoughts. The books are chosen on a “first come, first served” basis. Further instructions will be given via Smart LMS.
• Reading Journals
  There will be two compulsory written home assignments in the format of journal writing (analyzing selected poems of a given period: students might focus, for instance, on matters related to genre, on social issues and moral concerns, or on how language (imagery, rhythm, diction, syntax) generates meaning within a single poem). The Reading Journal entries should be typed and follow basic academic style conventions and formatting rules. Instructions will be given via Smart LMS per assignment. Even if a student’s absence is excused, they are still responsible for turning in their Reading Journal entries on time; because they will have at least a week’s lead time, the due date for these remains the same regardless of one’s absence. Thus, students should meet assignment deadlines by all means. In case one’s assignment is 1-2 days late, they lose 50% of their grade. In case one’s assignment is 3 or more days late, it is not accepted or assessed – the grade is a zero.
• Midterm Essay
  The purpose of this literary analysis essay (3-5 A4 pages long PLUS a References page) is to carefully examine an aspect of a Key Text discussed during seminars 1–13 and to present an argument / claim about it. The list of topics and guidelines will be given via Smart LMS two weeks before the deadline. Each student must choose a topic from the list provided and write their essay during hours of self-guided work. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. For each plagiarized sentence, the student loses one point (for example, 8 → 7). If there are more than three plagiarized sentences in one’s work, the grade for the essay is a zero. This paper should incorporate at least two additional sources. These sources may include critical perspectives, authorial commentaries, and / or historical assessments.
• Presentations
  There will be three compulsory presentations as a way for students to demonstrate understanding and mastery of the Key Texts in their own unique way. Instructions and scoring rubrics will be given via Smart LMS per task. The tasks are chosen on a “first come, first served” basis. The mean grade for all these tasks is not rounded.
• Exam Essay
  The written examination consists of a literary analysis essay (3–5 A4 pages long PLUS a References page), the purpose of which is to carefully examine an aspect of a Key Text discussed discussed during seminars 14-21 and to present an argument / claim about it. The list of topics and guidelines will be given via Smart LMS two weeks before the deadline. Each student taking the exam must choose a topic from the list provided and write their essay during hours of self-guided work. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. For each plagiarized sentence, the student loses one point (for example, 8 → 7). If there are more than three plagiarized sentences in one’s work, the grade for the essay is a zero. This paper should incorporate at least two additional sources. These sources may include critical perspectives, authorial commentaries, and / or historical assessments.
• Seminar Attendance
  Active participation in group discussions and in-class assignments is required at every seminar. If a student actively participates in class discussions during 15 classes or more, they will get a +1 bonus point added to their scaled grade (масштабированная оценка). Students should inform their instructor about their excused absences before the class (not after) by email, and provide the doctor’s notes and other documents about them. An excused absence is an absence due to a number of accepted reasons such as a medical or personal issue beyond one’s control, participation in a significant extracurricular university event, conference etc. If the absence is excused, the grade for seminar attendance will not be reduced.

Interim Assessment

• 2023/2024 4th module
  0.2 * Exam Essay + 0.2 * Final Project + 0.2 * Midterm Essay + 0.15 * Presentations + 0.1 * Reading Journals + 0.15 * Seminar Attendance

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Cavanagh, D. (2014). The Edinburgh Introduction to Studying English Literature: Vol. Second edition edited by Dermot Cavanagh, Alan Gillis, Michelle Keown, James Loxley and Randall Stev. Edinburgh University Press.
• Hans Bertens, & Theo D’haen. (2014). American Literature : A History. Routledge.

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Axelrod, S. G., Roman, C., & Travisano, T. J. (2012). The New Anthology of American Poetry : Postmodernisms 1950-Present. Rutgers University Press.
• John G. Cawelti. (1976). Adventure, Mystery, and Romance : Formula Stories As Art and Popular Culture. University of Chicago Press.
• Peter Brooker, & Andrew Thacker. (2009). The Oxford Critical and Cultural History of Modernist Magazines : Volume I: Britain and Ireland 1880-1955. OUP Oxford.
• Wild, J. (2017). Literature of the 1900s : The Great Edwardian Emporium. EUP.