• Home
• Study
• Study Information
• Modules
• Module Information

Visual and Literary Cultures of Realism

Module description

We will explore ‘the real’. ‘Realism’ is a huge and encompassing term, used to describe all kinds of literature, art and photography. In the long nineteenth century, realism reigned supreme. Then, as now, realism aims to reveal certain truths. Even sensation or gothic fiction, or magic realism, are forms that aim to reveal hidden realities about lived experience, psychology, desire and emotion. As we will see, realisms are grounded in knowledge about the body and mind, as revealed through anatomy, physiology, psychology, criminology—and art and literature.

Module aims - intentions of the module

• In this distinctly interdisciplinary module, you will focus on a series of key terms (dissection, the double, affect, etc.) in relation to specific literary texts (novel, short story, poem, autobiography, creative non-fiction), genres (gothic, sensation fiction, magical realism) and also visual materials (paintings, cartoons, photographs, engravings, sculpture).
• Each week, you will also look at historical materials (medical treatises, court cases) and contemporary critical theories (Freud, Foucault, Kristeva, Frederic Jameson, etc.) alongside the literary and visual texts.
• You will consider current debates about ‘truth’ and ‘alternative truth’, reality and the simulation of reality, the manipulation of images, as well as the place of affect and emotion in these debates.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate a detailed knowledge about the historical contexts that gave rise to realist forms of expression
• 2. Engage in significant critical debates around such topics as the relationship between medicine and the arts, crime, social reform, attitudes toward the body, technological progress, etc.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Demonstrate an advanced ability to analyse literature and visual materials
• 4. Demonstrate an advanced knowledge of relevant theoretical ideas, and how to use these to develop a deeper understanding of literary and visual texts

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Through essay-writing, demonstrate appropriate research and bibliographic skills, an advanced capacity to construct a coherent, substantiated argument, and a capacity to write clear and correct prose
• 6. Through the portfolio and presentations, demonstrate advanced communication skills

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:
• Dissection
• The Senses
• The Emotions and Affect
• The Photograph
• The Photograph 2
• Transparency
• The Type
• The Fragment
• Automatism
• The Copy
• Cruelty

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Corinna Wagner, ed., Gothic Evolutions (Broadview)
• Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, Tomorrow’s Eve (University of Illinois Press)
• Roland Barthes, Camera Lucida (Vintage)
• Herve Guibert, Ghost Image (U of Chicago P)
• Maggie Nelson, The Art of Cruelty (Norton)
• Haruki Murakami, ‘Confessions of a Shingawa Monkey’ in: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/06/08/confessions-of-a-shinagawa-monkey

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE – https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=683

Key words search

Gothic, magical realism, realism, visual culture, photography, short stories, confession, creative non-fiction, the body