Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 2 Credit Value: | 20 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
This module asks how the diverse and often hybrid forms of the nineteenth and early twentieth-century novel can be read as challenging social and sexual norms, both through formal innovation and through its various modes of representing hetero- and (male and female) homosexuality. It combines queer theory (eg, the work of David M. Halperin, Hanna Kubowitz, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick) with close readings informed by knowledge of socio-historical and medico-legal contexts (eg, Richard von Krafft-Ebing’s Psychopathia Sexualis, the Oscar Wilde trials, the 'Cult of the Clitoris' scandal). We perform queer readings of three subgenres of the Victorian and Modernist novel: the sensation novel; fin-de-siècle Gothic fiction; and the experimental Bildungsroman. The module concludes with Sarah Waters’s 2002 neo-Victorian novel Fingersmith (which draws heavily on The Woman in White and knowledge of Victorian pornography). This final text is intended partly to be recapitulatory, offering a means to reflect on the texts and topics discussed across the module, but it also offers a moment to consider the significance of neo-Victorianism’s relation to queer sexualities in the twenty-first century.
Indicative list of primary texts (novels may vary from year to year):
Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White (1859)
Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Lady Audley's Secret (1862)
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891)
Arthur Machen, The Great God Pan (1895)
Radclyffe Hall, The Well of Loneliness (1928)
Virginia Woolf, Orlando (1828)
Sarah Hall, Fingersmith (2002)
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 35:00 | 35:00 | N/A |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 11 | 1:00 | 11:00 | N/A |
| Guided Independent Study | Directed research and reading | 1 | 90:00 | 90:00 | N/A |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 11 | 2:00 | 22:00 | N/A |
| Guided Independent Study | Student-led group activity | 11 | 1:00 | 11:00 | N/A |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Drop-in/surgery | 1 | 1:00 | 1:00 | N/A |
| Guided Independent Study | Independent study | 1 | 30:00 | 30:00 | N/A |
| Total | 200:00 |
Lectures introduce students to the texts and topics to be studied, providing theoretical, historical and social context.
Seminars offer students the opportunity to hone their critical skills and to acquire confidence in developing and expressing their opinions.
Study groups are preparatory and exploratory, designed to encourage students to perform close readings, to demonstrate organizational skills, and to engage co-operatively with others.
Drop-in tutorials are opportunities for students to test their arguments and essay plans.
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 2 | M | 30 | Mid-module close reading exercise that explores one text and one key term/concept from the module (1200 words) |
| Essay | 2 | A | 70 | Final comparative essay (2800 words) |
Formative Assessment is an assessment which develops your skills in being assessed, allows for you to receive feedback, and prepares you for being assessed. However, it does not count to your final mark.
| Description | Semester | When Set | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oral Presentation | 2 | M | Group presentation: working in groups of 3-4, students will give a presentation on a key piece of secondary criticism/queer theory |
The mid-module close reading exercise tests close reading skills and understanding of key critical/theoretical concepts in play throughout the module. The longer essay examines the more complex strategies of reading, argumentation and comparison required to demonstrate a secure understanding of literary form, historical period and theoretical understanding.
The formative assessment at mid-module prepares students for the final essay by asking them to demonstrate knowledge of key secondary material and how this relates to the themes of the module.