ESH126
London Global
Level 4 (30 credits)
London Global introduces students to the study of narrative. We will think about the different ways we encounter narrative: when we read alone, in classes, or in public spaces like libraries or cafes on pages and on screens, in silence or within the soundscape of everyday life. Our focus is on the literature of London. You will encounter a range of narrative forms from the eighteenth century to the present, including the novel, short story, poetry and visual culture. The city is a space of complex relationships, strikingly reflected in urban texts. But what do we as readers do when confronted with the often baffling complexity of dense, multi-voiced or multi-plotted narratives' London Global invites you to give yourself over to the excitements and challenges of telling stories of the city, both as a literary critic and as a writer. We will think about how London has been imagined by writers and artists over time: as a space of translation and exile, a location of community or belonging, a meeting place of global histories or as a text itself open to interpretation or rewriting. You'll learn to attend carefully to voice and perspective, style and structure and to articulate your own interpretations of the urban experience expressed in literature. You'll hear from a leading London novelist, talking about his own practice as a writer. And we'll give you plenty of space to reflect on what you bring to the study of London texts, to discover what interests you most and to have fun experimenting with your own writing.
Preparing for this Module and Approximate Costs
There is no required preparation for London Global although reading the set texts ahead of the semester will help lighten your workload.
Still, it is always good to read as widely as you can about London's cultures and histories and to walk as much as you can, getting to know the city if you don't already know it, or getting to know it better if you do.
The novels we will be studying on London Global are:
Semester 1: Yara Rodrigues Fowler, there are more things and Sam Selvon, The Lonely Londoners.
Semester 2: Charles Dickens, Great Expectations and Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway (any editions).
You should have your own copy of each of these novels, and you are strongly encouraged to read them in preparation for the module, as this will lighten your workload during the semester. As you read, think about the very different Londons that each of these writers conjures.
If purchased at full price, the cost of the set texts will be approximately £38; however second-hand copies are widely available.
Further reading material for the module will be provided in the digital module pack, available on QMPlus.
Learning Context |
Lecture + Seminar |
Semester |
One + Two |
Assessment |
- Participation 1, 10%
- Written Assignment 1 (1000 words), 15%
- Essay 1 (1500 words), 25%
- Participation 2, 10%
- Written Assignment 2 (1000 words), 15%
- Essay 2 (1500 words), 25%
|
Mode of reassessment |
Standard |
Contact |
|
There is some content covered on the programme that you may find challenging and sensitive. We do not issue content notes for individual texts (written, performance, visual, sonic etc.), but please do contact your module tutor and/or convenor and/or adviser if you have concerns or problems relating any of the content, themes or discussions.