BA Comparative Literatures and Cultures

SML1003: Comparative Literatures and Cultures: Theories and Approaches

This module provides the theoretical grounding and methodological tools to study comparative literature and culture. The module has a unique focus on literatures and cultures within a system of producers and consumers: we will consider the agents involved in the production of literature, film, and art, and explore cultures of reading and viewing. We will think about key topics in comparative literature such as intertextuality and genre. You will develop your translation literacy in preparation for reading and viewing in translation.

This module aims to:

• Prepare you for the study of comparative literatures and cultures with a grounding in relevant theories and methodological tools
• Develop your understanding of the multiple systems that shape the production and reception of literature and cultures
• Provoke reflection on your own attitudes to literature and culture from around the world
• Encourage independent and collaborative specialised study of selected topics and texts, developing valuable transferable skills in cultural contextualisation, textual analysis, critical thinking, and group discussion

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SML1004: Reading Comparatively

In this module, you will put comparative literature into practice. Over the course of the module, we study three core themes - gender and sexuality, the environment, and migration - through a selection of extracts from texts from around the world. You will develop intercultural understanding and appreciation of the factors that shape the similarities and differences in cultural expressions over time and across borders. You will practice close reading and develop 'translation literacy', an understanding of the factors that shape the production and circulation of translated texts.

The module aims to:

• View responses to key societal issues through literature across multiple cultural contexts
• Emphasise intercultural understanding
• Develop your core skills of close reading, comparative analysis and essay writing as a foundation to a degree in Comparative Literatures and Cultures

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CLA1005: Greek and Roman Narrative

This module explores Greek and Roman epic poems within their literary, cultural, and social contexts: the Homeric epics Iliad and Odyssey, and selections from Apollonius' Hellenistic work The Argonautica and Roman 'epic', including Catullus 64, Virgil's Aeneid and Ovid's experimental Metamorphoses .

This module aims to explore:

• the development of the narrative genre from the earliest heroic epics through to Imperial Rome
• the assumptions the texts make about humans and the world
• how changes in society are reflected in literature and in the role of literature in society
• how attitudes and preconceptions influence the authors' treatment of their subject

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CLA1031: Text and Context: Women in Homer

This module explores the roles of women in the Homeric epics, alongside an investigation of the latest scientific and archaeological discoveries unearthing the real experiences of women in the Late Bronze Age. We will ask questions like: why has the Iliad often been thought as 'all about men'? Why does the Odyssey start with a woman being told to shut up? Is there a way that we can read women back into Homer? How do we interpret powerful women from the Late Bronze Age like Puduhepa, Queen of the Hittites - and what might she have to do with Homeric epic? And how might discoveries in archaeology and science shed new light on the experiences of women in the ancient world - and make us read these texts in a different way?

The aims of the module are:

• To explore the many different roles played by women in the Homeric poems, and to unpack how setting these alongside the historical experiences of women in the Late Bronze Age can change and shape the way we think about Homer - as well as the importance of women, both narratively and historically.
• To analyse the Homeric epics within their ancient literary, historical and cultural context, and - at the same time - to critically examine how contemporary concerns and theoretical approaches can change the way we understand the past.

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EAS1037: The Novel

This module will introduce you to an exciting range of novels representative of diverse narrative styles drawn from different historical periods and national contexts. The module covers the development of this important genre from the birth of the novel in eighteenth-century England through the nineteenth-century and modernist periods into the present day. It provides an invaluable foundation for future study in a number of literary fields.

• To introduce students to an exciting range of novels representative of diverse narrative styles drawn from different historical periods and national contexts. The module covers the development of this important genre from the birth of the novel in eighteenth-century England through the nineteenth-century and modernist periods into the present day.
• To address the emergence and reception of the novel in relation to its historical and literary contexts and to its adoption, and adaptation, of particular voices and forms. Close readings of chosen novels will be supplemented by theoretical and critical analysis. Stylistic changes - such as the move from nineteenth-century realist fiction to modernist experimentation - will be explored alongside specific texts which illuminate the impact of cultural change on fictional form.
• In looking at a variety of examples of prose fiction, to examine the pleasures of the novel, as well as the historical conditions and textual strategies which underpin those pleasures.

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EAS1041: Rethinking Shakespeare

This module explores Shakespeare's plays from a wide range of perspectives. You will study in depth some of the plays and examine the contexts of their production and reception; the plays' print history; early modern performance practices, and how other writers and film directors have adapted Shakespeare's plays. Through engaging with the sources and precursors to Shakespeare's plays, the intricacies of textual production and editorial history, as well as how these plays have been reimagined by other writers, you will be asked to rethink notions of textual stability in relation to the 'Shakespearean text' and encounter the nuances and richness available within Shakespeare Scholarship.

The module aims to explore the processes by which Shakespeare's plays came into existence, how they achieved their unique status in English literature and culture, and how Shakespeare's dominance has been and continues to be challenged. The module illuminates the role (and texts) of other writers involved in the legacy of Shakespeare's plays, from the Restoration to the twenty-first century, and encourages you to examine these often neglected influences within modern understandings of Shakespeare. Throughout, the module pays close attention to the particular possibilities of theatre as a mode of cultural production.

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MLF1018: The Devil is in the Detail: An Introduction to the Short Story in French

This module introduces you to a range of important writers and texts from different periods of French history, all connected by the short narrative form. In any given year we will study three or more of the texts indicated on the syllabus, exploring issues of national identity, individualism, love, desire, death, and freedom. We will look at how these themes are brought to the fore within the stylistic conventions of short form writing, and draw both formal and thematic comparisons between the texts studied to gain insight into important literary works and events from across French history.

This module aims to introduce you to a range of short stories and novellas originally written in French, distinct in their historical setting but connected in aspects of form. It analyses the ways in which short narratives can be used to make ideologically engaged or culturally meaningful comment, and identifies how this is connected to stylistic features. More generally, it seeks to increase awareness of a range of Francophone literary texts, and to consider them both within their socio-historical and cultural context and in more universal ways.

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MLG1014: A Nation Remembers: Issues in German Cultural Memory

Two dictatorships within the space of half a century have provided Germany with ample reason to want to forget and an equally strong imperative to remember. Rather than analysing the history of National Socialism (1933-1945) and the GDR (1949-1989), in this module you consider how a nation such as Germany remembers its past. Official forms of public commemoration (memorials and museums) are contrasted with artistic responses (film, documentary, autobiography) and with forms of private memory (such as letters, diaries, and photographs).

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MLI1016: Italy Inside Out: Popular Visual Narratives about Italy

What ideas and images come to mind when you think of Italy or Italian? In this module, you will explore some of the most influential visual narratives about Italy, produced both within the country and circulating internationally. Through films, television series, and other content available on online streaming platforms, we will examine recurring themes such as classical antiquity, romantic landscapes, glamour, crime and corruption, and the proliferation of “virtual Italies” and postmodern simulacra. You will discover why certain stereotypes about Italy remain so persistent, how they travel across borders, and how different audiences respond to them. No prior knowledge of the Italian language is required - just curiosity.

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MLM1014: Chinese Art and the Art of Living

Art and life are integrated in China. Rather than being practised exclusively by artists, traditional Chinese art was entrenched in people's daily living, a phenomenon that continues today. This module will provide hands-on experience of Chinese art such as calligraphy and painting. It will also introduce you to the diverse forms of the art of living, from architecture, gardening and fengshui to eating and drinking. Through this module you will deepen your understanding of Chinese art and the art of living in both theory and practice. There are no pre-requisites or co-requisites. This module is suitable for specialists and non-specialists and recommended for interdisciplinary pathways.

In this module, you will:

• Develop an understanding of different forms of artistic practices and the art of living in China;
• Grasp the aesthetic, social and cultural values that are associated with Chinese art and the art of living;
• Understand how Chinese art and the art of living shaped Chinese cultural sensibility and their view of a good life.

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MLR1006: An Emotional Experience: Russian Literature and the Expression of Feeling

You will read a range of works or parts of works of Russian literature - available to you in Russian and in translation - which are concerned at least in part with the expression of emotion and mood. The module aims to get you think about how writers create mood and express feeling in literature and in particular the relationship between language and emotion.

This is a module that looks at the expression of emotion in literature and analyses how such expression is achieved. We aim to get you thinking about what it means for literature to create, express or describe emotion. What, for example, is the relationship of the author to those emotions? Does language straightforwardly express emotion, and if so, whose? We will be discussing the problems that we encounter in reading and understanding emotion in literature and thinking about the reasons why writers explore emotion in the ways that they do. The module will help you to think about how writers interrogate our experience of emotion through their works.

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MLS1064: An Introduction to the Hispanic World: Texts in Context

How does Hispanic culture engage with politics, society and history? What makes Hispanic culture so widely known? What can you learn from the work of acclaimed writers and directors such as Ramón J. Sender and Carlos Saura? This course introduces you to key themes and lines of enquiry relevant to modern and contemporary Hispanism through film and text. Texts may be used in translation or parallel text and films are available with subtitles. Your confidence to read in the target language will develop as the term progresses and your knowledge of the language increases.

The aim of this core module is to:

• Introduce you to a representative sample of Hispanic texts and films from a variety of genres and periods
• Acquaint you with the salient thematic emphases and motifs of key works and their essential historical background
• Familiarise you with the principal socio-cultural issues underpinning Hispanic creative work by way of preparation for the later study of more specific elements of Hispanic historical culture

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THE1101: The Bible: Past and Present

This core module will introduce and interrogate the Bible not only as a library of ancient books reflecting the interests and ideologies of their authors and original contexts but also as a material object, icon and ongoing influence (for good and ill) in contemporary cultures. You will gain methodological skills of interpreting biblical texts through engagement with key cultural themes (ancient and modern) including religion, identity, politics, place and displacement, environment, and body and gender.

This module aims to:

• Introduce you to both the historical contexts in which selected books of the Bible were written and the contemporary reception of these texts in different cultural contexts
• Develop methodological and interpretative skills through close analysis of selected biblical texts and motifs in reference to broader themes permeating ancient and contemporary societies

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SML2001: Migrating Texts: Classical Reception, Adaptation, Translation

This module will examine different acts of textual comparison — reception, translation, adaptation — to think about how texts have been received and re-articulated differently at different periods (from ancient to contemporary). You will consider reception, adaptation and translation as overlapping but distinct practices and examine how they intersect with wider contextual questions, such as the legacies of colonialism and imperialism, nationhood, canonicity, gender, the literary market and the environmental crisis.

This module aims to increase your knowledge and understanding of how texts move between cultures, across space and time, and between genres. It will introduce you to a range of cultural productions and methods for analysing processes of reception, adaptation and translation, allowing you to practice both close textual reading and broader critical analysis of secondary material. This module also aims to develop your skills in communication, intercultural understanding and research. Through the group editorial project, you will develop your creative skills and ability to talk about culture for a non-academic audience.

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SML2003: Research Skills in Languages and Cultures

This module is ideal for anyone considering a dissertation or further study - or if you just want to learn more about research. The 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.

This module 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 SML3030 dissertation.

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CLA2005: Greek and Roman Narrative

This module explores Greek and Roman epic poems within their literary, cultural and social contexts: the Homeric epics Iliad and Odyssey , and selections from Apollonius' Hellenistic work The Argonautica and Roman 'epic', including Catullus 64, Virgil's Aeneid and Ovid's experimental Metamorphoses.

This module aims to explore:

• the development of the narrative genre from the earliest heroic epics through to Imperial Rome
• the assumptions the texts make about humans and the world
• how changes in society are reflected in literature and in the role of literature in society
• how attitudes and preconceptions influence the authors' treatment of their subject

View an example full module specification

CLA2031: Text and Context: Women in Homer

This module enables you to explore the roles of women in the Homeric epics, alongside investigation of the latest scientific and archaeological discoveries unearthing the real experiences of women in the Late Bronze Age, which might have informed the Homeric poems. We will ask questions like: why has the Iliad often been thought as 'all about men'? Why does the Odyssey start with a woman being told to shut up? Is there a way that we can read women back into Homer? And how might discoveries in archaeology and science shed new light on the experiences of women - and make us read these texts in a different way?

The aims of the module are:

• To enable you to explore the many different roles played by women in the Homeric poems, and to unpack how setting these alongside the historical experiences of women in the Late Bronze Age can change and shape the way we think about Homer - as well as the importance of women, both narratively and historically.
• To enable you to analyse the Homeric epics within their ancient literary, historical and cultural context, and - at the same time - to critically examine how contemporary concerns and theoretical approaches can change the way we understand the past.

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EAS2103: Modernism and Modernity: Literature 1900-1960

Modernism and Modernity explores a wide range of British, American and Irish authors from the first half of the twentieth century (1900-1960). In different ways, these authors sought to challenge established ways of using language and reinvent literature itself. You will study the texts in relation to their political, aesthetic and critical contexts. Particular attention is paid to innovation and experimentation, to the emergence and development of literary and cultural movements and to literatures' perceived responsibility in a time of change. You will learn skills in contextual and historical analysis, and independent research.

• As well as studying literary texts in depth, this module aims to strengthen your skills in contextual and historical analysis and research. Lectures and seminars will introduce key concepts and provide advice on further independent research. Study group meetings and prepared seminar presentations will give you the opportunity to develop your own approaches to the syllabus texts and other materials.

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EAS2113: Culture, Crisis and Ecology in a Postcolonial World

This module offers an introduction to World Literatures and film focused on Africa, the Caribbean, Middle East and South Asia, assessing how texts inscribe the social, historical and environmental impact of colonialism and new and adapted forms of imperialism. Focussing on issues such as development and disaster, conservation and animal rights, resource exploitation, and the effects of neoliberalism and global tourism, the module will introduce you to a range of texts - essays, films, novels, poems, and short stories - to investigate the cultural representation of the consequences of global crisis. While considering stylistic and thematic features, the module will map the convergences and divergences of postcolonial and environmental perspectives. This focus enables you to explore the deep connections between imperial power relations and contemporary issues of globalization.

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HAS2010: Work Experience: Building Skills and Unlocking Opportunities

'Work Experience' is an exciting, interdisciplinary module that, through a 35-hour work placement, will enable you to understand how your degree and discipline are relevant to the professional job market. The module is unique in combining research-enriched learning with practical, employment experience. Through its workshops and seminars, the module will allow you to identify and articulate your skills, knowledge, and experience to potential employers and it will offer you, via the placement, the opportunity to acquire first-hand understanding of an industry sector that you are interested in. You will build confidence in yourself and in the value of your degree, and you will be able to translate academic experiences into employment-related strengths and skills outside the university.

Many employers are looking for previous work experience to have been undertaken by candidates applying for their roles as they can demonstrate their understanding of, and make a quicker transition into, the workplace. Work experience can make you stand out as you progress into the graduate recruitment market.

You will be required to find and secure your own placements but will have help from the Placements team to support you in creating effective CVs and written applications, and to successfully navigate interviews. You will work in an agreed professional setting that develops your employability and workplace skills, and will reflect on that experience within the context of the module's assessment.

It is your responsibility to keep the Module Convenor and Employability and Placement Advisor informed of progress in the workplace and of problems that have arisen so that you can be supported as needed.

If you take this module, you may not take the sister module HAS3010 within your degree.

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MLG2019: Gender, Race and Migration in 20th and 21st-century German Literature

How do experiences of gender, race and migration affect the ways in which we feel a sense of identity and belonging in this world? In this module you will explore concepts of gender, race and migration in German-language literature of the twentieth and twenty-first century to critically examine this and other questions. We will explore how transitions - from one gender to another, between languages, and across national borders - can have an impact on one's sense of self and identity. By familiarising yourself with writers who lived through political, cultural and social changes in the German-speaking world, you will debate how modern literature can give us an insight into how ideologies of race, sexuality, gender, nation and class have functioned in an important period in German history, from the German Empire to contemporary Germany.

This module is suitable for all students.

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MLM2003: Chinoiserie and Européenerie: Artistic and cultural exchanges between China and Europe

Living in the global world of the 21st century, we do not always recognise how exchanges between China and Europe have long been shaping the art and culture we enjoy today. This module on Chinoiserie and Européenerie will introduce you to the diverse hybrid forms of material culture and artefacts such as porcelain, interior décor, gardens, fashion and mapping in both Europe and China since the 1600s. You will learn about the fascinating stories of how hybrid forms of material culture and artefacts evolved through the processes of Chinese-European exchange. You will understand the significance of these hybridities in both personal and social contexts. No pre-requisite modules are needed.

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MLM2013: Digital China: Popular Culture, Technology, and Society

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MLR2029: Other Shores: Exile and Emigration in Russian Literature

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SML2004: Contemporary Latin American Cinema

In this module, you will explore some of the most significant films that have emerged in Latin America since the mid-1990s, a period marked by the formation of Mercosur, the consolidation of democracy, and neoliberalism. It is designed to enable students from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds, such as Modern Languages, English, History, Politics, and Philosophy, to engage critically with the social context and production conditions of Latin American films, as well as with critical national and transnational issues. Prior experience in film study is not necessary. The focus of the module is on how Latin American films articulate certain tropes, and how films deal with narratives of nationhood whilst simultaneously inserting themselves into a transnational dialogue. Major themes include the family unit, filmmaking practices, globalization, and genre.

The module can count towards Spanish or Portuguese in the BA Modern Languages, provided students satisfy the relevant requirements in their assessment. Students do not need to speak Portuguese or Spanish.

This module aims to enable you to:

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SML2247: Tales of Freedom, Necessity and Providence

Freedom and necessity, used by philosophers as complementary or opposite concepts, have recently been studied as everyday experiences. Genevieve Lloyd did this by focussing on literary texts or by highlighting the more literary aspects of philosophical texts. You will follow her example by reading selected passages of key texts of European, North African and East Asian cultures. You can choose to develop your creativity through writing your own story inspired by these texts.

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SML2248: From Page to Screen: Female Detectives in Literature, Film, and Television

In this module, you will explore international female detectives in literature, film, and television from the nineteenth century to the present, discovering how they challenge the traditionally male-dominated crime genre. You will analyse texts in their cultural, historical, and socio-political contexts, focusing on representation, power, gender, and relational dynamics. The module takes an interdisciplinary approach, combining literary, film, and cultural studies, and welcomes students from all languages and disciplines.

No prior knowledge is required, and texts are studied in target languages and/or English translation. Where appropriate, the module may be credited towards a specific language pathway. You will also benefit from flexible assessment options, choosing between a written or video essay.

In this module, you will explore key debates surrounding crime narratives, gender, and representation across international literary and screen cultures. You will gain an understanding of the historical development of the crime genre, with a particular focus on the emergence and evolution of female detectives within different national and cultural contexts.

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HAS3999: Study Abroad

The Study Abroad programme enables you to undertake a year-long study placement at a partner university outside of the UK, as part of your degree programme.

This module serves as the administrative mechanism for recording the Study Abroad assessment results of students within the Faculty of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS). Students participating in the Study Abroad programme and based in a HASS department (except for the Law School, the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, Modern Languages, and the School of Education) will be registered on this module during their Study Abroad placement year.

The Study Abroad programme widens the range of modules available to you during Stage 3 of your degree programme; enables you to broaden your academic horizons by studying in a different learning culture and (where relevant and appropriate) in languages other than English; and aims to promote resilience, independence, cultural awareness, and communication skills.

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HAS3998: Employment Experience

This module allows you to undertake and to learn from an extended work placement during the third year of a four year “with Employment Experience” programme. You will use one or more work placements to gain skills that equip you to work in the employment market and to improve your knowledge of the work environment. You are encouraged to think about the intercultural competence and the employability skills that you acquire during your year.

To progress to this module, you will have secured a suitable placement for a minimum of 26 weeks.

Having developed the skills necessary to find relevant roles and apply for roles in the graduate labour market, this is an invaluable opportunity to develop work-related skills and experience that will further enhance your success in the graduate labour market and support your future career choices.

During your placement year you will be supported by the Module Convenor and Placement Team.

The module assessment structure provides opportunity and support for you to evaluate your skills and achievements using personal development techniques.  You will also write an Employer Report to showpiece the culmination of your academic and business skills.

This module aims to:

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SML3030: Extended Dissertation

The dissertation enables you to direct your own learning by producing a sustained critical essay on a cultural, historical, or linguistic topic within Modern Languages and Comparative Literatures and Cultures. This requires you to devise your own research questions and programme of work, and to produce a detailed bibliography, under the guidance of an academic supervisor, with a view to writing the Dissertation. You will develop in-depth knowledge of your chosen area; identify and answer appropriate, subject-specific questions; and expand your capacity for independent study, inquiry and research. You will also reflect on research methodologies and relevant critical theory.

BA Modern Languages students must refer to primary and secondary material in your target language. BA Comparative Literatures and Cultures students must write on a comparative topic.

The module aims to enable you to:

• Operate independently and responsibly and to take a positive and active role in your learning
• Devise your own research questions and to pursue these lines of inquiry
• Work under the guidance of an academic supervisor
• Produce a sustained piece of critical work

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