Monash University

Leader(s): Dr Paul Atkinson

Offered

Gippsland First semester 2009 (Day)
Gippsland First semester 2009 (Off-campus)
Singapore First semester 2009 (Off-campus)

Synopsis

This unit combines the study of ideas of authorship with the critical study of a number of texts. The notion of authorship will be interrogated in relation to a variety of writing practices. The Romantic idea of the author (and that of the film auteur) will be examined in the light of recent critical theories.

Objectives

On successful completion of this unit students should:

1. Be able to critically evaluate the range of practices employed in authorial criticism;
2. Understand how theories of authorship have changed in the movement from Romanticism to structuralism;
3. Comprehend the difference between the subject writing and the empirical author;
4. Have a working knowledge of the relationship between film style and authorial expression;
5. Be able to identify the key features of auteur theory and understand how it is used as a means of classification in film theory.

Third level students enrolled in ENH3407 are required to have a greater understanding of the historical foundations of the theory of authorship and how this is characterised in Foucault's theory of discourse.

Assessment

Essay (2500 words): 50%
Exam (2000 words): 50%

Contact hours

2 hours (1 x 1 hour lecture and 1 x 1 hour tutorial) per week

Prerequisites

COM1010 and COM1020 or equivalents

Prohibitions

COM2407, ENH3407, GSC2407, GSC3407