Contemporary Fiction

This course is intended for students in the master's programme in English literature and students in the master's programme in teacher education year 8-13 (lektorutdanning trinn 8-13, studieretning engelsk). This course fulfils the Studies in genre requirement for the MA in English literature.

The course may be taken as a single course by students who meet the admission requirements for the MA programme in English Literature.

This course takes its inspiration from a series of questions/topics debated at the Edinburgh World Writers conference first held in 1962. During a particular semester, it emphasizes one or more of the following: censorship, style versus thematic content, the future of the novel, the issue of whether or not fiction should be political, and/or the question of whether or not there is still such a thing as a 'national literature'.

To explore these questions, we will consider recent critical theories, and the ways in which they help deepen our understanding of the texts on the reading list. We will also address how larger historical contexts influence form, style, and thematic concerns. These concerns may include gendered family histories, racial and ethnic conflicts and displacements, war and exile, illness, injury, and/or environmental change.

Bachelor's degree (180 ECTS), or equivalent qualification, in English literature, or a degree combining English literature and a closely-related discipline (minimum 80 ECTS in English). An average grade equivalent to a Norwegian C or better is required.

Application code: 9371 - Enkeltemner på masternivå (Nordic applicants).

The students will obtain the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge

The students:

• have an advanced working knowledge of contemporary narratives in relation to the questions the course addresses, both from a national and global perspective. These may include censorship, style versus thematic content, the future of the novel, whether or not fiction should be political, and/or if there is still such a thing as a "national literature."
• recognize the significance of allowing a literary work to suggest relevant theoretical questions (rather than the other way around).
• appreciate the interdependence of literary and other aesthetic issues, contemporary politics and histories, and the role of the reader in interpreting meaning in 21st century fiction.

Skills

The student will be able to:

• articulate the broader ways in which issues in the selected 21st century narratives are relevant to their own culture, global culture, and their own lives
• compare and synthesize the theories presented in relation to the texts of imaginative writing on the reading list
• demonstrate their ability to relate to theoretical concepts both orally, through class participation, and in written form, in their responses and papers
• locate, cite, and intelligently incorporate several sources into their final paper and shorter essays.

The course will be taught over 13 weeks in 2-hour sessions, comprised of seminars, lectures, student presentations, and tutorials.

Quality assurance

All courses will be evaluated once during the period of the study program.

Language of instruction and examination

This course is open for exchange students who fulfill the admission requirements.

The course should be taken as a part of a course package.

More info about the coursework requirements

• An oral presentation
• One shorter essay (around 2000 words)
• Students are required to attend 80% of the class sessions

More info about the assignment

Re-sit examination