<p>Essay on a topic of the student’s choosing, with reference to primary texts - 4000 words</p>

Essay 4000 words

<p>Critical analysis of a theoretical text - 1500 words</p>

Critical Analysis 1500 words

This module traces the literary and cultural history of the body from the Early Modern period to the present day. Exploring changing experiences of human embodiment in modernity, the module deploys a variety of theoretical perspectives, from gender theory to the medical humanities, to analyse sexuality, race, and class at a corporeal level. Recuperating the haptic, affect, and jouissance in the human, the centrality of the body in debates as diverse as those on regicide, slavery, and transgender identity will be explored in relation to key theorists such as Michel Foucault, Judith Butler and Donna Haraway; the module will also trace the central role of the feminist tradition in focusing scholarly attention on the history of the body. Using these critical theories on the body, the module will examine a range of primary texts, from Renaissance tragedy to Gothic monstrosity and on to the post-human bodies of contemporary speculative fiction, and historical figures from the Renaissance period to the modern day, to examine fundamental questions about the relationship of the corporeal to culture, society and self.

Bodies - 7101ENGLIT

Bodies

Examine critically the history of the body in relation to connected historical trends in gender and sexuality, medicine and health, law and politics, and life sciences.

Display a sophisticated grasp of the nature of a ‘somatic turn’ or broader ‘material turn’ in contemporary humanities and social sciences disciplines.

Demonstrate advanced skills in locating and analysing bodily representations in a wide range of literary-historical texts.