Module Details

The information contained in this module specification was correct at the time of publication but may be subject to change, either during the session because of unforeseen circumstances, or following review of the module at the end of the session. Queries about the module should be directed to the member of staff with responsibility for the module.
Title Millennial Literature and Culture
Code ENGL301
Coordinator Dr DM Hering
English
D.Hering@liverpool.ac.uk
Year CATS Level Semester CATS Value
Session 2018-19 Level 6 FHEQ First Semester 15

Aims

The aims of this module are as follows:

 - To enable students to engage with a cross-section of international literature (fiction and non-fiction) from 1990 to the present day and to understand to concept of "millennial culture" as as scholarly discipline.

To a llow students to  become conversant with the major critical contexts of this era, to understand how these critical debates are conducted.

  - To provide students with the materials to perform a critique of literature of the 1990s and 21st century within a social and political context.

 - To attract students who are interested in approaching the study of contemporary literature as an inherently international practice.

- To develop skills in the comparison of literary and critical/theoretical writing, and in the understanding of how to apply theoretical contexts to contemporary literary contexts.




Learning Outcomes

To identify the impact of critical and cultural arguments surrounding literature and criticism of the late 20th and early 21st century.

To recognise different modes of contemporary writing and identify the social, political and cultural context within which they were created.

To acquire and display a developed vocabulary of the critical terminology specific to the millennial era.

To articulate the cultural relationship between literary and theoretical texts related to millennial culture.

To recognise and respond to the discourse of millennial literature and culture as an inherently international undertaking.


Syllabus

The module covers a series of strategies adopted by millennial writers to engage with the literary, cultural and international discourses of the late 20th and early 21st century. Topics covered will include the following: Generations X and Y and “Millennials”; irony and the cultural relationship between the 1960s/70s and the 1990s; digital/internet culture and the tech corporation (Apple/Google); developments in life-writing and journalism; the novel after theory; neoliberalism, austerity and debt; the globalised postcolonial city; discourses of waste, climate change and ecocriticism; terminologies of contemporary race relations; writing after/against postmodernism; the relationship between writing and the so-called “golden age of television” (HBO, AMC); 9/11, the war on terror and apocalyptic writing; the role of genre in contempora ry writing.

Students will be expected to attend a weekly 2 hour seminar, having prepared the relevant assigned reading ahead of time. Reading will typically include both a piece of "literary" reading (a novel, a selection of short stories or nonfiction essays) and a piece of "cultural" reading (a scholarly or theoretical essay).  Each seminar will incorporate two pieces of writing, one literary and one critical.Group presentations will be based around a debate/research question.

The focus will generally be on contextual and comparative readings of shorter texts rather than one novel-length text per week, though students may still be required to read novels occasionally. Comparative reading is essential to this module, as it relies upon an understanding of a global and literary/critical context, and of reading literature in tandem with theory and c riticism. Students will be able to treat theory, criticism and fiction/nonfiction as equally weighted in their class discussion and coursework. Relevant learning materials will be uploaded to VITAL - while students will be expected to buy primary texts, the critical material will be made available via the Sydney Jones library, DISCOVER and VITAL. The first session will also feature an embedded library/research skills session to address the particular challenges of researching contemporary writing. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of reading contemporary critique from a variety of open access and institution-enabled sources.

The module involves a significant degree of cross-platform engagement (in particular the relationship between literature, the internet and television). Some of these materials will be employed in seminars using A/V equipment while links to others will be made available via VITAL to enhance student learning.

Suggested Weekly Topics and Reading List (texts may be subject to change, and are intended here to show the kind of reading required for each week). We will not be reading two full-length works each week - we will normally read a mixture of fiction and criticism usually totalling around 90-100 pages per week. Longer works listed here will generally be read in part/excerpt only.

  1. Millennials: A historical and cultural introduction
  2. Digital: William Gibson, Pattern Recognition, Donna Haraway, "A Cyborg Manifesto"
  3. Money: Annie McLanahan, "Dead Pledges"; Don DeLillo, Cosmopolis
  4. Theory: Judith Ryan, The Novel After Theory, David Foster Wallace, "Fictional Futures"
  5. Irony: Dave Eggers, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius; A.M. Homes, "A Real Doll"
  6. Race: Claudia Rankine, Citizen; Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me
  7. Violence: Hassan Blasim, The Corpse Exhibition; Maggie Nelson,The Art of Cruelty
  8. Globalism: Teju Cole, Open City;Tao Lin,Taipei
  9. Waste:  Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything; Cormac McCarthy,The Road
  10. Journalism: John Jeremiah Sullivan, Pulphead; Michelle Orange, This is Running for your Life
  11. HBO: Michael Szalay, "T he Incorporation Artist"; Jennifer Egan, A Visit from the Goon Squad
  12. Apocalypse: Colson Whitehead, Zone One; Richard McGuire, Here
Suggested Secondary Reading:

Peter Boxall, Twenty-First Century Fiction: A Critical Introduction, Cambridge UP 2013

Samuel Cohen, After the End of History: American Fiction in the 1990s, Iowa UP 2009

Jeremy Green, Late Postmodernism: American Fiction at the Millennium, Palgrave 2005

Andrew Hoberek, The Twilight of the Middle Class: Post-World War II American Fiction and White-Collar Work, Princeton UP 2005.

Mary K. Holland, Succeeding Postmodernism, Bloomsbury 2013

Amy Hungerford, “On the Period Formerly Known as Contemporary”, American Literary History, Volume 20, Number 1-2, Spring/Summer 2008, pp. 410-419

Adam Kelly, American Fiction in Transition, Bloomsbury 2013

Mark McGurl, The Program Era: Postwar Fiction and the Rise of Creative Writing, Harvard UP 2009

Detailed bibliographies and online resources will be available under ‘Learning Resources’ on VITAL.  VITAL will also provide links to other secondary materials and online resources useful for seminar preparation and independent study.


Teaching and Learning Strategies

Weekly 2 hour seminars - Seminars

Students will be able to discuss their progress during Dr Hering''s office hours and also by appointment.


Teaching Schedule

  Lectures Seminars Tutorials Lab Practicals Fieldwork Placement Other TOTAL
Study Hours           24
Seminars
24
Timetable (if known)           Students will be able to discuss their progress during Dr Hering's office hours and also by appointment.
 
 
Private Study 126
TOTAL HOURS 150

Assessment

EXAM Duration Timing
(Semester)
% of
final
mark
Resit/resubmission
opportunity
Penalty for late
submission
Notes
             
CONTINUOUS Duration Timing
(Semester)
% of
final
mark
Resit/resubmission
opportunity
Penalty for late
submission
Notes
Coursework  2000 words  Semester 1 (due mid-semester)  50  Yes  Standard UoL penalty applies  Assessed Essay 1 
Coursework  2000 words  Semester 1 (due end of semeste  50  Yes  Standard UoL penalty applies  Assessed Essay 2 Notes (applying to all assessments) - none 

Recommended Texts

Reading lists are managed at readinglists.liverpool.ac.uk. Click here to access the reading lists for this module.
Explanation of Reading List: