English literature : Narrative voices, from the first novels to the twentieth century

Teacher(s)

Cré Marleen;

Language

English

Prerequisites

The prerequisite(s) for this Teaching Unit (Unité d’enseignement – UE) for the programmes/courses that offer this Teaching Unit are specified at the end of this sheet.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

At the end of the course, students should be able to - identify and describe the major literary movements of a specific period in the UK, Ireland and/or the US; - contextualise and discuss in depth literary texts and the major authors belonging to that specific period; - produce a structured, well-argued discourse that integrates the specific vocabulary and concepts used in literary studies; - analyse a literary text using the knowledge acquired through the course.

Content

This course familiarizes students with the concepts and methods of literary analysis through the in-depth analysis of a selection of novels. Using as its main thread the notion of narrative voice, it focuses on the various aspects of narration, focalisation and the modes of representation of a character's consciousness through the analysis of “traditional” and experimental novels.
The following novels will be discussed:

• Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These (Faber and Faber)
• R.L. Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Penguin Classics)
• Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye (Vintage)
• Jenny Diski, Only Human (Virago)

Students will also have to read scientific articles about narratology and the novels discussed.

Teaching methods

Lectures. Students are encouraged to actively prepare and take part in the discussions through weekly compulsory tasks.
The lectures make ample use of audio-visual material and technologies (extracts from film adaptations or performances, interactive quizzes with voting devices, etc.).
This course is accompanied by 7 hours of workshops. These sessions give the students additional opportunities to master the texts, methodological framework and literary terminology, especially because the approaches to the texts used in the workshops will be complementary to the approaches used in the course proper. Students will also be coached to present a scientific argument in writing exercises that prepare them for the written exam.

Evaluation methods

20-minute oral exam wiith 20 minutes of preparation time, without access to the course material or reference books. Students will be allowed to use the novels discussed in class, provided they have not been annotated. 

Other information

Course taught in 2026-2027.
Course notes with a course plan, the reading portfolio and a glossary.
PowerPoint presentations available on Moodle after each session.
This course is taught in English.

Bibliography

Une bibliographie est comprise dans le syllabus.

Faculty or entity

> PHLB