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From Pen to Printed Page: Exeter's Literary Archives

Module description

The University of Exeter has one of the finest literary archives in the country. This module gives you the opportunity to discover some of our most important manuscripts and, via hands-on archival research, to chart a given text’s journey from the pen to the printed page and beyond.

The module will focus on a number of canonical books, which is likely to include Henry Williamson’s Tarka the Otter (1927), Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca (1938), William Golding’s Lord of the Flies (1954) and Ted Hughes’s Cave Birds (1975). It will also consider the status and fragmentary nature of archival materials. What, if anything, are manuscripts able to tell us about the polished product sold to audiences?

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module privileges the materiality of texts, reminding us that neatly-packaged books are the result of a messy and often confused collaboration between writers, editors, artists and designers. A study of drafts, notebooks and letters exposes these processes, showing the extent to which even great art is inherently chancy and contingent.

The module will develop practical skills that are crucial to researchers, archivists and editors. It will teach expertise in handling valuable documents, as well as encouraging new ways to read not only the texts themselves but the stories that their materiality tells. Two of the most precious items in our archive — the Rebecca notebook and the Lord of the Flies manuscript — are also the most fragile, and the reasons for their precarious state shape our understanding of the published novels.  

This module allows us to work across literary genres (novels, nature writing, poetry, children’s literature) and to trace our chosen texts over time as they find new audiences. All three of the listed prose works have been filmed (two of them twice). One has been turned into a musical; another is currently being adapted for television. We will follow these strange afterlives as we map the continuing and changing influence of our texts. 

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

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

• 1. Develop the ability to handle, analyse and conserve archival materials.
• 2. Demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of the processes of literary production.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

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

• 3. Carry out detailed close readings of texts across different media and genres.
• 4. Contribute to disciplinary debates about archives and materiality.

ILO: Personal and key skills

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

• 5. Demonstrate advanced writing and speaking skills
• 6. Conduct independent scholarly and archival research.

Syllabus plan

The module’s content will vary from year to year. It will be determined to some extent by each group as it follows its own interests. Nevertheless, the syllabus will have at its core a series of canonical texts that is likely to include Henry Williamson’s Tarka the Otter (1927), Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca (1938), William Golding’s Lord of the Flies (1954) and Ted Hughes’s Cave Birds (1975) as well as others represented in the Exeter archive. Topics to be explored will include the fragmentary nature of archives, the relationship between technology and art, the role of collaboration, and the influence of editors and publishers on literary texts.

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

• Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca (1938).
• William Golding, Lord of the Flies (1954).
• Ted Hughes, Cave Birds (1975).
• Henry Williamson, Tarka the Otter (1927).

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• University of Exeter Special Collections: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/departments/library/special-collections/

Key words search

Archives, Manuscripts, du Maurier, Golding, Williamson, Hughes