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 | Postmodernism | ||
| Code | ENGL727 | ||
| Coordinator |
Dr DM Hering English D.Hering@liverpool.ac.uk |
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| Year | CATS Level | Semester | CATS Value |
| Session 2018-19 | Level 7 FHEQ | Second Semester | 15 |
Aims |
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The module aims to:
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Learning Outcomes |
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Students will demonstrate a critical appreciation of the debates around postmodernism, its cultural, historical and theoretical status. |
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| Students will demonstrate advanced textual analysis of a range of postmodern fiction. | |
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Students will critically evaluate current scholarship and research related to postmodernism. |
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Students will effectively handle complex concepts and engage with them through independent, critical anlysis in an extended written assessment.
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Syllabus |
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Syllabus and Primary Reading
Session 1 – An Introduction to Postmodern Thought (David Hering)
Primary Reading: Jorge Luis Borges, “The Garden of Forking Paths” and “The Library of Babel” Frederic Jameson, Chapter 1 of Postmodernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism Susan Sontag, “Notes on Camp” from Against Interpretation
Session 2 –Simulacrum and Simulation
Primary Reading: Don DeLillo, White Noise Jean B audrillard, "Simulacra and Simulations." Jean Baudrillard, Selected Writings, ed Mark Poster. Stanford University Press, 1998, pp.166-184.
Session 3 – Rules and Forms
Primary Reading: Paul Auster, The New York Trilogy Jean Francois Lyotard, “Answering the Question: What is Postmodernism?”
Session 4 – The Local/Global Context
Primary Reading: - Haruki Murakami, A Wild Sheep Chase - Ihab Hassan, “From Postmodern to Postmodernity: the Local/Global Context” - Kodama, Sanehide, and Ken Inoue, ‘Postmodernism in Japan’, in International Postmodernism: Theory and Literary Practice, ed. by Hans Bertens and Douwe Fokkema (Amsterdam; Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1997), pp. 511-15.
Session 5 – Postmodernism and SF
Primary Reading: William Burroughs, ‘The Limits of Control,’ J.G. Ballard, Chapters 1, 5 and 7 of The Atrocity Exhibition
Session 6 – The World after Postmodernism?
Primary Reading: Amy Hungerford, “On the Period Formerly Known as Contemporary”, essay in American Literary History Vol. 20, Number 1-2 - David Foster Wallace, “E Unibus Pluram: Television and US Fiction” and “Greatly Exaggerated” from A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never do Again; “My Appearance” from Girl wit h Curious Hair - Tao Lin, “Leftover Crack in Red Hook” - Leslie Jamison, “In Defence of Saccharin(e)”
Secondary Reading Jean Baudrillard, America (1986) Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulations (1980) David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity (1990) Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition (1979) Don DeLillo, Underworld (1997) < /span>‘Don DeLillo’s America’ at http://www.perival.com/delillo/delillo.html Mark Osteen, American Magic and Dread (2000) Thomas DiPietro, ed. Conversations with Don DeLillo (2005) Peter Boxall, Don DeLillo: The Possibilities of Fiction (2006) John Duvall, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Don DeLillo (2008) Paul Auster, The Book of Illusions (2002) Paul Auster, The Art of Hunger (1992) (essays, interviews, etc.) Mark Brown, Paul Auster (2007) Dennis Barone, ed. Beyond the Red Notebook (1995) Haruki Murakami, After Dark (2008) Jay Rubin, Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words (2002) Rebecca Suter, The Japanization of Modernity (2008) ‘Haruki Murakami Resources’ at http://www.exorcising-ghosts.co.uk/ David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest (1996). The Howling Fantods (DFW online resource) at http://thehowlingfantods.com/dfw/ Marshall Boswell, Understanding David Foster Wallace (2003). Marshall Boswell and Stephen Burn, ed. A Companion to David Foster Wallace Studies (2013) David Hering, ed. Consider David Foster Wallace: Critical Essays (2010) Barth, John. ‘The Literature of Exhaustion’, in The Friday Book: Essays and other Nonfiction (1984) Bennet, Tony, ed., Popular Fiction: Technology, Ideology, Production (1990) Butler, Christopher, Postmodernism. A Very Short Introduction (2002) Connor, Stephen, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Postmodernism (2004) Dix, H.R. Postmodern Fiction and the Break-Up of Britain (2010) Jameson, Fredric, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (1991) Hasan, Ihab, The Dismemberment of Orpheus: Towards a Postmodern Literature (1982) Hasan, Ihab, The Postmodern Turn (1987) Maltby, Paul, Dissident Postmo dernists: Barthelme, Coover, Pynchon (1991) Nicol, Barn, The Cambridge Introduction to Postmodern Fiction (2009) Smyth, Edmund J., (ed), Postmodernism and Contemporary Fiction (1991) Waugh, Patricia, ed. Postmodernism. A Reader (1992) Wood, Brent, ‘William S. Burroughs and the Language of Cyberpunk.’ At http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/68/wood68.html Smith, Matt, ‘The Work of Emotion: Ballard and the Death of Effect’ at http://www.jgballard.ca /criticism/death_of_affect.html
‘The Atrocity Exhibition Discussions,’ at http://www.holli.co.uk/atex/atex.htm |
Teaching and Learning Strategies |
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Fortnightly 2 hour seminars - Seminars |
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Teaching Schedule |
| Lectures | Seminars | Tutorials | Lab Practicals | Fieldwork Placement | Other | TOTAL | |
| Study Hours |
12 Seminars |
12 | |||||
| Timetable (if known) | |||||||
| Private Study | 138 | ||||||
| TOTAL HOURS | 150 | ||||||
Assessment |
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| 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 | 2500 words | Semester 2 | 50 | Yes | Standard UoL penalty applies | Essay |
| Coursework | 2500 words | Semester 2 | 50 | Yes | Standard UoL penalty applies | Essay Notes (applying to all assessments) Students will be invited to devise (in consultation with a tutor) a suitable essay title for their assessed essays. |
Recommended Texts |
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Reading lists are managed at readinglists.liverpool.ac.uk. Click here to access the reading lists for this module. Explanation of Reading List: Selected Secondary Reading Auden, W. H., ‘The Guilty Vicarage’ in The Dyer’s Hand and Other Essays (1948) Barth, John. ‘The Literature of Exhaustion’ (1967), collected in The Friday Book: Essays and other Nonfiction (1984). Bell, Ian A., and Graham Daldry (eds.), Watching the Detectives: Essays on Crime Fiction (1990) . Bennet, Tony, ed., Popular Fiction: Technology, Ideology, Production (1990). Butler, Christopher, Postmodernism. A Very Short Introduction (2002). Connor, Stephen, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Postmodernism (2004). Delamater, Jerome H., and Ruth Prigozy, eds., The Detective in American Fiction, Film, and Television (1998) Dix, H.R. Postmodern Fiction and the Break-Up of Britain (2010). Docherty, Thomas, ed. Postmodernism: A Reader (1993) Eco, Umberto, The Role of the Reader (1979) Holquist, Michael, ‘Whodunit and Other Questions: Metaphysical Detecti ve Stories in Post-War Fiction’, New Literary History, 3.1 (1971): 135-156 Jameson, Fredric, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (1991) Hasan, Ibab, The Dismemberment of Orpheus: Towards a Postmodern Literature (1982) --------------, The Postmodern Turn (1987) Knight, Stephen, Form and Ideology in Crime Fiction (1980) Maltby, Paul, Dissident Postmodernists: Barthelme, Coover, Pynchon (1991) Merivale, Patricia, Detecting Texts: The Metaphysical Detective Story from Poe to Postmodernism (1998) Nicol, Barn, The Cambridge Introduction to Postmodern Fiction (2009) Smyth, Edmund J., (ed), Postmodernism and Contemporary Fiction (1991) Todorov, Tsvetan, ‘The Typology of Detective Fiction’, in The Poetics of Prose, tr. R. Howard (1977)
Waugh, Patricia, ed. Postmodernism. A Reader (1992). |
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