90 credits of compulsory modules and 90 credits of optional modules.
From Level 6 options: students can take no more than 30 credits of these level 6 undergraduate modules.
Other viable level 6 modules from LCVS may be available but are subject to approval from the programme director and meeting language prerequisites.
FLM3115: Classical Chinese I
Classical Chinese , also known as Literary Chinese, is the language of the classic literature from the Spring and Autumn period to the end of the Qing dynasty , a written form of Old Chinese . Classical Chinese is a traditional style of written Chinese that evolved from the classical language, making it different from any modern spoken form of Chinese . As a medium of the traditional Chinese civilization, Classical Chinese gives learners access to the rich Chinese achievements in philosophy, literature and art.
This module-Classical Chinese (I) is offered to Chinese native and/or near native speakers from mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and other countries with significant Chinese-language populations, and/or overseas Chinese speakers who are interested to explore their ancestors' identity, worship, heritage and culture. The majority of this module will be based on reading, translating from classical Chinese to modern Chinese, and discussing extracts taken from key philosophical, political, literary, and historical texts from the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BCE), Warring States period (476-221BCE), Qin (221-207BCE), Han (202BCE-220CE),Three Kingdoms (220-280CE), Jin (265-420CE) to the Northern and Southern dynasties (420-589CE). It will cover a selection of major genres in which the classical language was used over time.
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MLM3008: Introduction to Modern Chinese Literature
This module gives you the chance to explore the major writers and works of Chinese literature from the twentieth century to the present, including fiction, prose, poetry and film. You will study these works from mainland China in their relevant literary, socio-political and cultural contexts (including Western influences). You will be able to explore and understand how Chinese writers and filmmakers reconstructed modern literature in relation to China's nation-building process. All texts selected for study are available in English being translations of Chinese originals.
No prior knowledge of Chinese is assumed or required. This module is taught in English and is designed both for non-Chinese speakers and native Chinese speakers.
The module aims to enable you to:
- Gain an understanding of Chinese literary and political history from The Republic of China (1912-1949) and The People's Republic of China (1949-present).
- Gain a detailed appreciation of the key literary works including the most influential feminist writers, who made Chinese modern literature with a humanistic spirit.
- Explore critical concepts in selected famous masterpieces of literary scholarship.
- Acquire skills to appreciate and analyse intertextual content.
- Acquire an understanding of approaches to literary adaptation into other mediums.
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SML3041: Green Matters in Modern Languages and Cultures
Our current geological age has been termed the 'anthropocene' - an age when human activities have come to influence our environment. This team-taught, interdisciplinary module, which is suitable for all interested students, explores cultural responses to these developments over time. It considers the fundamental but at times also controversial role culture plays in pointing at challenges and opportunities; disasters and dangers; and the importance of communities in the wider context of issues such as environmental awareness, climate change, global warming and sustainability. This module provides case-studies on the history of green movements over time, raises ethical considerations in general and artistic, literary, linguistic and cinematic approaches in particular.
This module provides, by means of individual case-studies, an overview of the historical, artistic, architectural, linguistic, policy orientated, literary and cinematic developments in relation to the awareness of our environment. It gives insight into a range of global developments and informs about principal aspects of past and current debates. It fosters the kind of synoptic debate employers particularly value and it highlights the eminent importance of the Humanities in addressing these issues.
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SML3044: Migration in World Cinema
Transnational histories of migrants, the colonised, or refugees have been a major theme of World Cinema in the 21st century. Each national cinema portrays migration at different times in different film forms and styles. In this module you will explore how films from different nations have dealt with cinema, introducing key critical and theoretical concepts in film studies. The focus of the module is on trends in films of each country and explore recurring themes such as stereotypes, rejection, integration and diversity. It is designed to enable students from a wide range of backgrounds such as Modern Languages, English, History, Politics and Philosophy to engage critically with some key ideas concerning filmic representation of migration and its aesthetic, cultural and socio-political contexts. Prior experience of film study is not necessary.
This module can count towards Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, German or Russian credits providing that you engage with material in the relevant language in your assessment.
The module aims:
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SML3051: Aliens Abroad: Science Fiction in Global Literature
Science fiction is a global phenomenon. Science fiction writers assimilate the challenges of modernization; express anxieties about new technology; articulate their perceptions of the world order, or frame resistance to it. This module introduces you to culturally important 20th and 21st- century science fiction from Argentina, China, France, Germany, Italy and Russia in English translation.
You will analyse the main topics of the set texts, their characters, their key scenes and to consider the role that they have had in the recent history of their cultures. You will also discuss the nature of science fiction and find a definition (if any exists) that enables us to compare and contrast the set texts. You will be familiarized with the specific challenges of modernization in China, France, Germany, Italy, Latin America, and Russia. Finally, you will be taught transferable techniques of literary analysis and socio-political contextualization.
You will read the texts in translation in their entirety; lecturers will use close readings and discussion to check that essential passages are fully understood. Lectures will identify relevant critical points, sketch in the historical, social and cultural background to the books’ plots, and form the basis for your preparation. However, you are expected to reflect on the texts and other material independently and to be able to express your personal interpretation of these texts.
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CLAM078: Classical Reception: An Introduction
Classical Reception Studies starts from the assumption that the past has meaning only in so far as it is 'framed' - represented and discussed - in terms of the concerns of the present. Our modern understanding of the classical past has been shaped by centuries of appropriation and reinterpretation, loss and rediscovery. In turn, modern Western concepts such as 'culture', 'civilisation' and concerns about, for example, national identity, political ideology, race and sexuality have been constituted and reconstituted with constant reference to ideas about and images of the Classical past. This module will examine different 'framings' of many different aspects of the ancient world in post-classical cultures. You will explore both how these cultures have made use of the classical past and how they themselves have changed and shaped the way that the ancient world is understood both in academia and in popular culture.
The module aims to:
- Introduce you to the field of Classical Reception Studies and to the theoretical models that underpin it
- Develop your understanding of Classical Reception Studies through the exploration of a series of indicative case studies from across post-classical cultures
- Expand knowledge and understanding of the ways in which interpretation, representation, appropriation, translation, reconstruction, and/or revision of Greek and Roman antiquity have shaped our understanding of the past
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EASM167: World Cinema / World Literature
This team taught module, considers the relationship between the production of cinema and literature and debates around the critical and theoretical concepts of 'world' cinemas and literatures and their articulation around world revolutionary moments and cultures of protest and dissent. Interdisciplinary in approach, this module is suited to students with an interest in world, global and postcolonial film and literary studies.
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HASM006: The Legend of King Arthur
The deeds of King Arthur and his court are imprinted on the landscape, embedded in (pseudo-)historical texts, and have been repeatedly re-invented in romances, novels, film and television programmes. This interdisciplinary module asks you to investigate the appeal of the 'once and future king' from the Middle Ages to the twenty-first century, including the ways in which his legend has been adapted and extended over time. The Southwest has unique links to the Arthurian myth, and this module allows you to explore the manuscript and archaeological resources that distinguish this region.
No prior knowledge, skills or experience are required: this module is suitable for all students at this level.
NB This module is also listed as an undergraduate option: undergraduate and postgraduate students will be taught together in mixed classes. An undergraduate student who has taken this as a Level 3 module cannot then take it as an MA module.
This module explores the development and deployment of the legend of King Arthur from the Middle Ages to the modern day. You will engage with a wide range of Arthuriana, including, but not limited to, historical documents, literature, film and television programmes, and you will consider what this evidence tells us about the changing nature of the legend and the needs or desires of the societies in which it is evoked. You will then evaluate aspects of the legend through an extended essay.
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HASM018: Working with Medieval Manuscripts and Documents
This module introduces you to the main technical skills you will need to study medieval archival material. It offers in-depth training in palaeography (the study of old handwriting), diplomatic (the study of legal documents), codicology (the study of manuscripts as artefacts), and bibliography (the study of libraries and collections). You will also learn how to study and produce critical editions of medieval texts. Each seminar will be taught by members of staff with expertise in that area, and several seminars will involve hands-on experience with medieval manuscripts. In short, this module provides you with the essential skills needed for independent postgraduate research in medieval studies.
Much of what we know about the Middle Ages is based on handwritten medieval manuscripts and documents, which are often unpublished and are difficult to understand without specialist knowledge.
- This module is designed to give you the skills to start reading medieval sources in the original, and to understand the decisions that editors make when transcribing and publishing them. You will learn how to read and transcribe a range of medieval manuscripts and documents, and to recognise different scripts and abbreviations.
- The module will also teach you how to understand the technical descriptions of manuscripts found in printed and online catalogues, and provide you with the basic training needed to produce your own descriptions and critical editions of manuscript material. To help develop these practical skills, some seminars will be held in research libraries with access to original documents (e.g. Special Collections at the University of Exeter, Exeter Cathedral Library, and/or Devon Record Office).
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SMLM156: Translation as Literary and Creative Practice
This module takes you into the exciting world of creative translation, both in literature and in advertising. It will teach you the essential skills to translate literary texts that invite a multiplicity of meanings and interpretations, as well as the advertising texts that require imaginative translation for global audiences and consumers. You will explore issues of style, semantics, and interpretation that are specific to creative translation, how the specific poetic and multimedia context of both source and translated text may influence the activity of translation in literature, publishing, and in publicity campaigns, and how to translate literary, artistic, and advertising texts effectively and imaginatively.
The module introduces you to the particular translation challenges posed by creative and artistic translation, through a study of thought and criticism in this field, and through practical translation exercises. You will practice translating across a range of literary genres and multimedia modes, and will have some freedom to choose the texts you would like to translate. Creative skills in writing are developed, as is an awareness of the realities of the literary and media translation profession.
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SMLM158: Translation as Cultural and Intermedia Practice
Have you ever reflected on the role played by different media in the crafting of translation? And also, on the nature of translation as a transfer across media boundaries? Translation is not only a linguistic transfer, but also a mode of cultural and media production. In this module, you will explore translation in the diversity of its cultural forms and intermedia practices across the globe, and how global cultures and the creative industries (cinema, theatre, music, literature and the visual arts) make use of translation as a means of communication, innovation and/or transgression. By looking at various forms of translation (rewriting, adaptation, retranslation and artistic performance), you will investigate how ideas of culture and power are established and/or challenged and how different media and modes affect the shaping and life of translated products. You will analyse the role of translators as intermedial mediators and the strategies adopted to create cultures and products across media. Finally, you will reflect on your own agency as a producer and consumer of translation.
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SMLM240: Research Skills for Languages and Cultures
This module takes you through the process of preparing a research proposal and literature review, introduces you to key methodologies for research in languages and cultures, and embeds you within the university research community. It will equip you with the skills you need to design, carry out, analyse and present a research project. This includes both general skills, such as formulating a research question or understanding research ethics, and specific methodologies. The module also aims to introduce you to the research community at the university: as part of your Guided Independent Study time you will attend research seminars hosted by research centres across Humanities and Social Sciences, where researchers present their work. From both your classes and these research seminars, you will learn more about how researchers structure and present their arguments effectively.
Your research proposal can be used as the basis for your SMLM113 dissertation.
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SMLM241: Reading the UNESCO Cities of Literature
As a UNESCO City of Literature, Exeter is part of a global network that celebrates literary heritage and fosters communities of readers and writers. In this module, you will learn more about cultural policy, literature’s role in civic life and development, and the innovative collaborations between Exeter staff and writers, readers, translators, and scholars across the network. You will also develop your knowledge and understanding of a diverse range of writing from across the world, through close reading of texts from a selection of cities. This is an interdisciplinary module, drawing on literary studies, cultural geography, translation studies and publishing studies.
Through this module, you will develop your critical thinking, analytical skills and research skills. As part of your assessment, you will also produce creative work such as reviews, translations or journalistic writing responding to the course material.
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THEM151: Monsters in the Bible and Beyond
In this module you will use Monster Theory to interpret and analyse monsters and images of the monstrous in biblical texts. Understandings of these biblical monsters will allow you to assess how biblical writers conveyed their cultural concerns and challenges via the monstrous. Additionally, you will interrogate the use of biblical texts and motifs alongside representations of the monstrous in television, films, and video games. You will examine some of the most salient challenges we face in contemporary society that intersect with shifting attitudes towards the Bible. You will be introduced to approaches to the study of biblical reception history alongside the use of Monster Theory in order to develop liberative critiques of biblical texts in relation to social justice issues.
Being an interdisciplinary module, this module is recommended for students on MA Theology and Religion, MA Film and Screen Studies, MA Magic and Occult Science. There are no module pre-requisites.
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