Undergraduate Course: The Making of Modern Fantasy (ENLI10351)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | How does a genre come into being? In this course we will trace the making of the modern fantasy genre by reading the works - both creative and theoretical - of its founding fathers and mothers. |
| Course description |
Fantasy in its widest definition goes back to the beginnings of human literature, and in its narrowest is a publishing category just several decades old. We will adopt the medium-range view and examine texts that are identifiably 'fantastic' in the modern sense, and that are linked together in an attested genealogical chain, but that were mostly written before fantasy emerged as a best-selling type of 'genre fiction' and before it assumed the place in popular culture that it occupies today.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | A MINIMUM of 4 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 other interdisciplinary classes, Freshman Year Seminars or composition/creative writing classes/workshops are not considered for admission 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 4 literature classes at grade A.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course **
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| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2019/20, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 12 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
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| Additional Information (Learning and Teaching) |
plus 1 hour per week autonomous learning
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
one Course Essay of c. 2,500 words (30%);
Class participation assessment (10%)
one time-limited Final Essay of c. 3,000 words (60%)
|
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
|
| Academic year 2019/20, Part-year visiting students only (VV1)
|
Quota: 3 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
one Course Essay of c. 2,500 words (30%);
Class participation assessment (10%)
one time-limited Final Essay of c. 3,000 words (60%)
|
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- 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.
- By the end of the course a student will be able to critically analyse the generic parameters of fantasy writing.
- By the end of the course a student will be able to show knowledge of the seminal literary and disciplinary contexts from which the modern fantasy genre emerged.
- By the end of the course a student will be able to reflect critically on the formal and theoretical issues which fantasy writing raises.
- By the end of the course a student will be able to engage with the key themes of the founding works of the genre.
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Reading List
Brian Stableford, Historical Dictionary of Fantasy Literature: Introduction; The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature
William Morris, The Story of the Glittering Plain, or The Land of Living Men (1891)
George MacDonald, Lilith (1895)
E. R. Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros (1922)
Lord Dunsany, The King of Elfland¿s Daughter (1924)
Hope Mirrlees, Lud-in-the-Mist (1926)
C. S. Lewis, Perelandra (1943)
J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
Ursula K. Le Guin, The Farthest Shore (1973) |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Anna Vaninskaya
Tel: (0131 6)50 4284
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms June Cahongo
Tel: (0131 6)50 3620
Email: |
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