Welcome to ENGL101
World Literature
ENGL101 World Literature differs from ENGL100 English Literature in its attention to literary works outside of the ‘canon’ of English literature. The module considers world literatures written in English (from Africa, North America, Asia) and literary works in translation. There is a strong focus upon the practices of translation throughout the course. ENGL101 will ask you to become much more self-aware and self-reflective as a writer and critic. It will do this by asking you to write, not only for assessments, but regularly and self-critically, in order for you to begin to think through your own critical assumptions and practice, and carve out your own critical ground on which to stand. The course is not assessed in the same way as ENGL100. Instead, there are two coursework essays, which will enable you to experiment with critical form and practice if you wish; and a long project at the end, preceded by a short proposal which you will draw up and submit in consultation with your tutor. This long project will enable an in-depth study of texts and issues investigated in the course, and if you take English at Part II, will begin to prepare you for the longer and more independent work undertaken in ENGL201 Theory and Practice of Criticism and ENGL301 Dissertation.
What you will study
Term 1: Founding Worlds (Weeks 1-5)
The course begins with some of the founding texts and ideas of the Western and modern canon. You will consider the flood narrative from the Bible and its rewriting in David Maine’s The Flood; Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Franz Kafka’s adaptation in The Metamorphosis and begin to look at translation theories. You will consider issues of translation, the body and monstrosity.
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Term 1: Founding Forms (Weeks (7-10)
In this part of the term you will study works that have distinct and unique forms that have had a huge influence on subsequent world literature: the playful and uncontained prose of Francois Rabelais; the first use of the term 'Utopia' in Thomas More’s book of that name; Dante’s mapping of hell in Inferno and Borges Labyrinths, as well as thinking about theories of the grotesque body, heterotopia, and place. There will be a continuing focus on issues of translation.
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Term 2: Locating and Relocating (Weeks 11-15)
In this term you will follow the vampire narrative across the world with gothic specialist Catherine Spooner, learn to translate Gaelic poetry with Paul Muldoon, continue to think about Utopias through a novel by Haruki Murakami and consider the place of the image in graphic novels with Professor of Comics, Benoit Peeters.
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Term 2: Travel and Translation (Weeks 17-20)
Issues of empire and Orientalism will be considered in The Thousand and One Nights and Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children. We turn to the modern world with Tom Sperlinger’s Romeo and Juliet in Palestine, and consider the translation of Palestinian poetry into English and Scots with A Bird is Not a Stone. We will consider issues of textual transmission as well as human transmission: how people translate their culture across boundaries and their texts across cultures.
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Term 3: Writing and Form (Weeks 21-25)
The final term looks to a myriad of thematic issues raised in the course so far. The relation between the oral and written is at the fore of the ‘Radiophonics’ project, engaging a new generation of African writers. Movement across genres is considered in Shakespeare and world cinema; and multiple identities in Mariama Ba’s novel on the clash and overlaps of Western, African and Muslim cultures. The course’s focus on place is continued in lectures on mapping, labyrinths and cyberspace. As you will be working on your project in this term, there is also a lecture dedicated to the art of editing.
How is it assessed?
100% Coursework
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Assessment Details:
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Practice Essay (0%)- a short practice essay to ease students into the module and to gain early feedback on a draft version of their first assignment. Due week 5
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Essay 1(15%)- 1,500-word essay on a range of topics such as the difference between oral and written texts and allegories. Due week 9
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Essay 2 (25%)- 2,000-word essay on a choice of topics, such as style, content and global debates.
Due week 16
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Project Proposal (10%)- A short piece of work formally preparing your project.
Due week 20
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Project (50%) - This project can take a range of different forms, such as a long essay, critical prose, critical or creative writing.
Due week 27
How is it taught?
There are two 1-hour lectures and a 1-hour seminar per week.
Lectures are designed to give you broader context, ways of thinking about the text and further opportunities for your own study. Seminars, involving smaller group discussion, allow you to engage in a deeper critical conversation with tutors and peers. Click here to find out more.
All our lecturers are world-renowned researchers and respected academics. The department ranks highly in the TEF (Teaching Excellence Framework) every year. The following are just some of the staff members who teach on the module.
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Professor Kamilla Elliott
Kamilla delivers lectures on Shakespeare and film. Her research interests lay around literature's relationship with other media, especially the visual arts and film. Kamilla also lectures on ENGL100 & CREW103 looking at how film and literature is combined.
Dr Lindsey Moore
Lindsey delivers lectures on Orientalism, The Thousand and One Nights and Rushdie's Midnights Children. Her research is primarily on post-1948 literature of the Arab world (including North Africa) within postcolonial studies. She works with material in English, French and in translation from Arabic.
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Professor Catherine Spooner
Catherine delivers lectures on Bakhtin's concept of the Grotesque Body and vampires in literature. Her is research incorporate Gothic literature, film, popular culture, and fashion and dress in literature, within the broader spectrum of Victorian and contemporary literature and culture.
Dr Andy Tate
Andy delivers lectures on two varied subjects for ENGL101: the graphic novel and in particularly Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis and the Bible and contemporary fiction. His is research focuses on the intersections between literature, theology and aesthetics. He also has an interest in American Literature.
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Guest Lecturer
Professor Benoit Peeters is an distinguished visiting professor to the department. He is a novelist, graphic novelist, intellectual biographer, cultural historian and screen-writer.
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Professor Peeters has published two books about Tintin's creator Herge and has himself published numerous graphic novels for which he has won prizes and awards.
What our Students say...
"Really interesting lectures, especially appreciated guest lecturers (Tom Sperlinger, Paul Muldoon)."
"Learning texts that aren't a part of the western canon as well as just non-english texts allowed for a wider understanding of literature on a global scale."
"The texts covered a wide range of cultures relating to their social and historical topics, I learnt not only about literature but also important world events and developments."
"The parallelism between history and culture from across the globe and Britain was fascinating."
"Being able to study different texts outside the canon to get a look at literature that still has meaning today."
"Really interesting lectures, especially appreciated guest lecturers Tom Sperlinger, Paul Muldoon."
"Reading was varied and diverse, I enjoyed looking at World Lit not just in terms of location but different forms and genres."