UWA Handbook 2024

Unit Overview

Description

This unit centres on how twentieth-century narratives sought to make sense of the turbulent world in which they were written and produced. The stylistic innovations that characterise twentieth-century culture are of particular interest. It looks at some of the century's major authors and ranges widely across forms (the novel, drama, film, poetry, theory). In the unit, students consider how authors, filmmakers, poets and dramatists 'make it new' in Ezra Pound's phrase. They also examine the interrelations between literary practice and social life. How do these texts represent and critique their contexts—war, genocide, political upheaval, the creation of nation states, economic crises, technological and scientific developments, shifting gender and race relations? What might it mean for the holocaust to be imagined in the form of graphic novel, as is the case with Art Spiegelman's Maus? How does an experimental film such as Hiroshima Mon Amour represent the memory of war? What and how do these texts tell us about the twentieth century, and our own place in history today?

Credit

6 points

Details for undergraduate courses

• Level 2 elective

Outcomes

Students are able to (1) demonstrate knowledge of some of the major literary movements and texts of the twentieth century; (2) utilise historical and cultural contexts in the comprehension of particular literary movements and texts; (3) independently interpret select twentieth-century literary and cinematic texts independently through analysis of relevant scholarly information and creative material; (4) grapple with radical and experimental modes of writing and cinema; (5) express ideas, information and argument coherently and logically in written and oral forms; (6) work effectively as a member of a collaborative group in a tutorial context; (7) enhance research skills in locating and assessing critical writing in traditional and digital media; (8) have a critical understanding of the role played by ideologies of race, gender and class in literary and cultural contexts; (9) refine and demonstrate highly developed skills of textual analysis and critical reasoning; (10) have an historicised understanding of fundamental critical concepts that allow them to recognise and discuss the relationship between the formal, thematic and functional aspects of any text studied; and (11) further develop and practise enquiry-based learning and research and communication acquired at Level 2 into Level 3 units in English and Cultural Studies, with applications across a broader field of study at UWA.

Assessment

Indicative assessments in this unit are as follows: (1) tutorial presentations and discussions; (2) formative review; and (3) research essay. Further information is available in the unit outline.

Student may be offered supplementary assessment in this unit if they meet the eligibility criteria.

Unit Coordinator(s)

Associate Professor Tanya Dalziell and Professor Brenda Walker

Unit rules

Prerequisites

any Level 1 ENGL unit

Contact hours

3 hours per teaching week