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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2017/2018

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures : English Literature

Undergraduate Course: George Orwell and the Politics of Literature (ENLI10335)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Literatures, Languages and Cultures CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryGeorge Orwell dedicated his life to making political writing into an art, and bore witness to many of the definitive political events and movements of the first half of the twentieth century. He also expanded the boundaries of a variety of genres: the realist novel, the documentary and the travelogue, satire and dystopia, the essay and the allegorical fable. This course places Orwell's work in the context of the cultural and political debates of the 1930s and 40s, and asks what it means to talk of the 'politics of literature'.
Course description George Orwell is one of the most famous writers of the twentieth century, and terms such as 'Orwellian', 'Big Brother', and '1984' have entered the language. But Orwell was more than the author of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eight-Four: he dedicated his life to making political writing into an art, and he bore witness to many of the definitive political events and movements of the first half of the century. He also expanded the boundaries of a variety of genres: the realist novel, the documentary and the travelogue, satire and dystopia, the essay and the allegorical fable. Through his work we can gain an unparalleled insight into the cultural debates of the 1930s and 40s; and in this course we will focus on the relationship between text and context in order to build up a comprehensive picture of a period shaped by the Great Depression, communism, fascism, and wars that defined the modern world. We will also consider the formal and theoretical issues involved in bringing politics into literature, and question what it means to talk of the 'politics of literature' more generally.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: ( English Literature 1 (ENLI08001) OR Scottish Literature 1 (ENLI08016)) AND ( English Literature 2 (ENLI08003) OR Scottish Literature 2 (ENLI08004))
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Additional Costs Essential course texts
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. By the end of the course a student will be able to demonstrate competence in core skills in the study of English Literature: independent reading, essay planning and writing, group discussion, oral presentation, and small-group autonomous learning.
  2. By the end of the course a student will be able to demonstrate familiarity with George Orwell's oeuvre, including his fiction, documentary and essay writing.
  3. By the end of the course a student will be able to show knowledge of the seminal generic and literary historical contexts in which Orwell wrote.
  4. By the end of the course a student will be able to reflect critically on the formal and theoretical issues involved in bringing politics into literature.
  5. By the end of the course a student will be able to demonstrate knowledge of key works of secondary criticism and historical background relevant to Orwell's writing.
Reading List
None
Additional Information
Course URL http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/literatures-languages-cultures/english-literature/undergraduate/current/honours
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
Additional Class Delivery Information One hour per week for 10 weeks (autonomous learning group at times to be arranged)
KeywordsENLI10335 George Orwell
Contacts
Course organiserDr Anna Vaninskaya
Tel: (0131 6)50 4284
Email:
Course secretaryMs June Haigh
Tel: (0131 6)50 3620
Email:
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