Module Details

The information contained in this module specification was correct at the time of publication but may be subject to change, either during the session because of unforeseen circumstances, or following review of the module at the end of the session. Queries about the module should be directed to the member of staff with responsibility for the module.
Title THE FIN DE SIECLE: LITERATURE AND CULTURE 1880-1910
Code ENGL395
Coordinator Dr MD Bradley
English
Matthew.Bradley@liverpool.ac.uk
Year CATS Level Semester CATS Value
Session 2022-23 Level 6 FHEQ Second Semester 30

Aims

The main aims of this module are:

·         to encourage students to broaden and deepen their understanding of the late-Victorian period and the diverse cultural movements and trends associated with it through study of a wide variety of written and visual texts;

·         to facilitate research skills and the use of a range of primary non-literary materials in relation to literary texts;

·         to provide students with a contextualised understanding of the fin-de-siècle period in relation to both the Victorian period in general and the subsequent period of Modernist experimentation;

· to investigate the validity of identifying fin-de-siècle culture as ‘separate’ from mainstream Victorianism and Modernism, and critically to assess claims for its distinctive aesthetic, political, social an d ethical concerns.


Learning Outcomes

(LO1) Students will identify key elements of fin-de-siècle culture and place this into the context of the period’s relationship with the Victorian age in general and the cultural climate of the early years of the twentieth century;

(LO2) Students will discuss in a critically informed manner a diverse body of literary, visual and cultural texts from the fin de siècle in the context of wider Victorian debates about art, science, progress, sexuality etc;

(LO3) Students will relate aesthetic and generic issues with social/political/ethical ones and vice versa;

(LO4) Students will critically assess the ways in which the concept of the fin de siècle has been constructed both in late-nineteenth-century discourses (such as degeneration theory) and in current critical debates;

(LO5) Students will write in a literary and critical style which is attuned to and develops in response to the artistic product under analysis.

(S1) Communication (oral, written and visual) - Presentation skills – oral

(S2) Personal attributes and qualities - Willingness to take risk

(S3) Working in groups and teams - Group action planning

(S4) Critical thinking and problem solving - Critical analysis

(S5) Personal attributes and qualities - Flexibility/Adaptability


Syllabus

 

Topics covered typically include:
 
·         Sexuality and identity
·         The ‘New Woman’
·         Empire
·         Degeneration
·         Aestheticism and Decadence
·         The growth of journalism, popular writing etc
·         Late-Victorian Gothic
·         Psychoanalysis


Teaching and Learning Strategies

This module will be taught by 1 x weekly 1-hour tutorial with small group and 2 x weekly 1-hour workshops with whole cohort (F2F or online, as appropriate).

The majority of teaching will be delivered face to face on campus. Online delivery will be used to complement the on campus delivery and where technology affords a better learning experience.


Teaching Schedule

  Lectures Seminars Tutorials Lab Practicals Fieldwork Placement Other TOTAL
Study Hours     11

    22

33
Timetable (if known)              
Private Study 267
TOTAL HOURS 300

Assessment

EXAM Duration Timing
(Semester)
% of
final
mark
Resit/resubmission
opportunity
Penalty for late
submission
Notes
             
CONTINUOUS Duration Timing
(Semester)
% of
final
mark
Resit/resubmission
opportunity
Penalty for late
submission
Notes
Assessment 2 Standard UoL penalty applies for late submission. Resit opportunity    50       
Creative Project Proposal         
Assessment 1 Standard UoL penalty applies for late submission. Resit opportunity    50       

Recommended Texts

Reading lists are managed at readinglists.liverpool.ac.uk. Click here to access the reading lists for this module.