CLS3075 - Popular Fiction and Popular Culture

Leader: Sarah McDonald

Offered

Not offered in 2007

Synopsis

This unit will investigate popular fiction in culture and popular culture. What fiction is widely read and seen in our society? What functions do popular texts serve? In what ways do gender and ideology intersect with the genres of popular narratives in books and films? How are national myths produced and circulated? What are the interactions between written fictional narratives and narratives in other media?

Objectives

At the conclusion of the unit, students should be able:

1. To discuss and analyse popular fiction critically, using contemporary methodologies.
2. To explain the relations between culture and the fictions which circulate in it.
3. To understand, feel comfortable with and be able to articulate the analytical skills, theoretical vocabularies and conceptual apparatuses studied.
4. To demonstrate a sense of their own personal and cultural reflexivity as they observe and interpret the theories, concepts and texts analysed in the unit.
5. To write clear, grammatically and syntactically appropriate, independent essays on topics provided or chosen for assessment.

Assessment

One essay (2250 words): 50%
One class project (equivalent 2250 words): 50%
Third-year students will be invited to show a greater degree of theoretical reflexiveness in their projects

Contact hours

2 hours (1 x 2 hour seminar) per week