Undergraduate Course: Haunted Imaginations: Scotland and the Supernatural' (ENLI10349)
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 | This course will explore representations of the supernatural - tracing a chronological trajectory from the early modern to the contemporary moment - in a diverse range of Scottish writing by both canonical and non-canonical writers. It encompasses traditional forms such as ballads and folktales, Romantic and Victorian fictions, and contemporary fantasy and fabulisms. Scotland¿s traditional cultural, literary, and mythic associations with the otherworld are well-attested; but the course will encourage you to explore and examine critically the notion of a distinctively ¿northern Gothic¿, and to attend closely to the ways in which this body of literature manifests what Marina Warner calls the ¿inextinguishable famishing for the fantastic¿ ¿ the diversity of ghosts, fairies, witches, and other creatures which haunt this body of literature. |
| Course description |
We will examine and evaluate the contribution of Scottish writers to specific genre and modes ¿ for example, Gothic fiction, ghost story, fairy tale, and their contemporary reimaginings and revisions. We will also seek to place the representation of these diverse ¿spirit worlds¿ within appropriate aesthetic, cultural, and social contexts. We shall explore whether certain types or kinds of ¿supernaturalism¿ relate to specific cultural fears and anxieties; if and why Scottish culture is subject to particular kinds of ¿haunting¿; and whether ¿haunted¿ fictions have subversive or political potential. Throughout we will pay close, sensitive attention to the primary materials in order to elucidate their aesthetic, psychological, and cultural implications.
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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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| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2022/23, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 15 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
196 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
one Course Essay of c. 2,500 words (40%);
one time-limited Final Essay of c. 3,000 words (60%)
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| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- 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 'spirit worlds'
- Discuss the influence of traditional oral forms (ballad, folktale) on literary writing
- Provide appropriate historical and cultural contextualisation
- Discuss and evaluate 'the supernatural' within suitable critical and theoretical paradigms
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Reading List
Week 1 Introduction (George mackay brown, 'Andrina', available as a pdf on Learn)
Week 2 The Traditional Supernatural: ballads and folktales*
Week 3 Romantic Gothic - James Hogg's Confessions of a Justified Sinner
Week 4 Victorian Ghosts: Margaret Oliphant
Week 5 J.M. Barrie and the Gothic: Peter Pan and Mary Rose
Week 6 Witches & witchcraft - Munro's The Last Witch
Week 7 Female Gothic: Elspeth Barker's O Caledonia! Marion Angus: poetry*
Week 8 Writing week
Week 9 Contemporary Hauntings I: Ali Smith's Hotel World.
Week 10 Contemporary Hauntings II: A Robertson's The Testament of Gideon Mack
Week 11 Reflections and Conclusions
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | supernatural Gothic fantasy Scotland |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Deirdre Shepherd
Tel:
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Hope Hamilton
Tel: (0131 6)50 4167
Email: |
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