English Language Literature and Culture II

Recommended Prerequisites

Knowledge of English culture and literature acquired in the first and second cycles; advanced skills in English.

Teaching Methods

Students will be required to take part in all class discussions. Each student will have to make an oral presentation in class of either a fictional text or a theoretical essay relevant to the issues of the course’s syllabus. By the end of the semester a workshop will take place in which all students will present the project of their final written work. Final essays should be rewritten taking into account the feedback received at the workshop.

Learning Outcomes

The seminar aims to extend and deepen students’ knowledge about the cultures and literatures of the British Isles; to familiarize students with theoretical models and state of the art concepts relevant to the study of contemporary cultures and literatures of the Isles; to develop a critical awareness about the topics and traditions under discussion; to provide students with advanced and independent research skills.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

The Isles: History told as Fiction

This seminar will focus on the discussion of the present popularity of historical fiction, placing it against the background of the XIXth century historical novel tradition. The concept of “historiographical metafiction” will be used as the main tool to differentiate the present phenomenon from the past. The diversity of genre conventions, as opposed to the realist mode of tradition, will be a starting point for the discussion of the relationship between the fictions under analysis and historiography studies, bearing in mind the political standpoints which present under the surface of aesthetic choices. The conflict between “historical truth” and “versions of history” will be explored, always bearing in mind the events in the history of the British Isles which, even today, are still matter for heated debate.

Assessment Methods

Continuous Assessment
Assiduity: 10.0%
Participation during seminars: 30.0%
Writen works: 60.0%

Bibliography

Bebiano, A. (2013). Cicatrizes e feridas: a ficção contemporânea perante o passado. In A. S. Ribeiro (org.), Representações da violência (pp. 105-125). Coimbra: CES/ Almedina.

Bebiano, A. (2011). Engendering the Nation: Irish Women and Nationalism. In M. H. Mutran, L. P. Z. Izarra & B. K. X. Bastos (Eds.), A Garland of Words. For Maureen O'Rourke Murphy (pp.179-190). S. Paulo: Humanitas.

Davies, N. (1999). The Isles. A History. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Fleishman, A. (1971). The English Historical Novel. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins Press.

Hutcheon, L. (1988). A Poetics of Postmodernism: History, Theory, Fiction. London & New York: Routledge.

Kearns, G. (2007). Bare Life, Political violence, and the territorial structure of Britain and Ireland. In D. Gregory & A. Pred (Eds.), Violent Geographies: Fear, Terror and Political Violence (pp. 7-35). New York: Routledge;

Sontag, S. (2003). Regarding the Pain of Others. London: Penguin.