Undergraduate Course: Haunted Imaginations: Scotland and the Supernatural' (ENLI10349)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will explore representations of the supernatural in a diverse range of Scottish writing which encompasses traditional forms (folktales and ballads), Romantic and Victorian fictions, and contemporary fantasy and fabulisms. Scotland&©s traditional cultural, literary, and mythic associations with the supernatural are well-attested but the course will encourage students to explore and examine critically the notion of a distinctively $ùnorthern Gothic&© whilst exploring how, and why, Scottish literature manifests what Marina Warner calls the $ùinextinguishable famishing for the fantastic&©. The course will evaluate the contribution of Scottish writers to specific genres and modes $û for example, Gothic fiction, ghost story, fairy tale, and their contemporary revisions and reimaginings $û whilst placing the representation of these $ùspirit worlds&© within appropriate cultural, social, and aesthetic contexts. Are certain types or kinds of $ùsupernaturalism&© relatable to particular cultural fears or anxieties? Is Scottish culture subject to particular kinds of $ùhaunting&©, and why? Do these fictions have subversive or political potential? The course will introduce students to less well-known work by James Hogg, R.L. Stevenson, and J.M. Barrie as well as to other non-canonical material. |
| Course description |
Week 1: Paradigms - Hogg&©s Confessions and Stevenson&©s Jekyll and Hyde
Week 2: Romantic Gothic - shorter fictions (Hogg, Cunningham, Scott)
Week 3: Ghosts I - Margaret Oliphant, Tales of the Seen and the Unseen
Week 4: Ghosts II - J.M. Barrie, Mary Rose; Farewell Miss Julie Logan
Week 5: Fairies I - Traditional ballad and folktale; c19 retellings (oral and literary)
Week 6: Fairies II - c19th fairy tales - MacDonald, Hogg, Cunningham, Stevenson
Week 7: $ùNursery fears&© - literature for children
Week 9: Witchcraft $ú early modern witchcraft trials and testimonies; Rona Munro, The Last Witch in Scotland
Week 10: Contemporary hauntings I: Elspeth Barker, O Caledonia! ; Emma Tennant, The Bad Sister
Week 11: Contemporary hauntings II: James Robertson, The Testament of Gideon Mack
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | Essential course texts |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | A MINIMUM of three college/university level literature courses at grade B or above (should include no more than one introductory level literature course). Related courses such as civilisation or creative writing are not considered for admissions to this course.
Applicants should also note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission. In making admissions decisions preference will be given to students who achieve above the minimum requirement with the typical visiting student admitted to this course having three to four literature classes at grade A.
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Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
&· identify and evaluate the principal literary and artistic modes and genres used by Scottish writers to create fictions of the supernatural
&· analyse key formal literary strategies, devices, and tropes deployed in this literature in order to explore the aesthetic configuration of $ùspirit worlds&©
&· discuss the influence of traditional oral forms (ballad, folktale) on literary writing
&· provide appropriate historical and cultural contextualisation
&· discuss and evaluate $ùthe supernatural&© within suitable critical and theoretical paradigms
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Reading List
James Hogg, Confessions of a Justified Sinner (OUP, 2010)
R.L. Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, and Other Tales of Terror (2003)
Elspeth Barker, O Caledonia! and short stories (2010)
Alice Thompson, The Falconer (2009)
Emma Tennant, The Bad Sister (2000)
George MacDonald, The Complete Fairy Tales (2000)
Rona Munro, The Last Witch in Scotland (2009)
Margaret Oliphant, A Beleaguered City and other tales of the seen and the unseen (2000)
J.M. Barrie, A Barrie Omnibus (2000)
James Robertson, The Testament of Gideon Mack (2007)
*Supplementary Course Anthology
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | supernatural Gothic fantasy Scotland |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Sarah Dunnigan
Tel: (0131 6)50 8304
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Anne Mason
Tel: (0131 6)50 3618
Email: |
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