Teaching Responsibility
LJMU Schools involved in Delivery:
Humanities and Social Science
Learning Methods
Lecture
Seminar
Tutorial
Workshop
Module Offerings
5128ENGL-SEP-MTP
Aims
1. To introduce students to a range of post-1948 literary texts by and about migrants to Britain and their British-born children.
2. To enable students to critically compare different literary portrayals of Britain’s ethnic diversity.
3. To enhance students’ ability to identify and explore links between literary texts and non-literary material.
Learning Outcomes
1.
Identify and critically discuss intersections between a primary literary text and relevant pieces of secondary material.
2.
Apply critical skills to the analysis of literary texts about ethnic diversity in Britain, showing an awareness of historical and cultural specificity.
3.
Critically compare the ways in which different literary texts portray ethnic diversity in Britain.
Module Content
Outline Syllabus:This module focuses on post-1948 literature about ethnic diversity in Britain. It explores a tradition of writing by and about post-colonial migrants and their British-born children, considering this literature in relation to recent discussions of (for instance) multiculturalism, (anti-)racism, and the decolonial. It thus enhances students’ awareness of the diversity of experience and literature in Britain since the middle of the twentieth century, and allows them to engage with and contribute to ongoing debates over British identity and society. In the first week of the module students will be briefly introduced to the much longer history of ethnic diversity in Britain, and made aware of some textual accounts of that diversity (e.g. Seacole’s 1857 autobiography; Equiano’s 1789 memoir; Evaristo’s The Emperor’s Babe, whose protagonist is an African girl in Roman Britain). Students will also be familiarized with the beginnings of what is often referred to as ‘multiculturalism’ in Britain, following the British Nationality Act of 1948. Subsequent weeks then focus on specific literary works of prose, poetry, and drama. Indicative primary texts include:
• Sam Selvon, The Lonely Londoners (1956)
• Buchi Emecheta, Second Class Citizen (1974)
• Timothy Mo, Sour Sweet (1982)
• Extracts from Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses (1988)
• Hanif Kureishi, 'My Son the Fanatic' (1994)
• Andrea Levy, Never Far From Nowhere (1996)
• Nadeem Aslam, Maps for Lost Lovers (2004)
• Daljit Nagra, Look We Have Coming to Dover! (2007)
• Jackie Kay, The Lamplighter (2008)
• Zadie Smith, 'The Embassy of Cambodia' (2013)
• Kamila Shamsie, Home Fire (2017)
Module Overview:
This module focuses on post-1948 literature about ethnic diversity in Britain. You will explore a tradition of writing by and about post-colonial migrants and their British-born children, including works of prose, poetry, and drama, and read these texts in relation to contemporary debates about multiculturalism, race and (anti-)racism, and British identity and society.
This module focuses on post-1948 literature about ethnic diversity in Britain. You will explore a tradition of writing by and about post-colonial migrants and their British-born children, including works of prose, poetry, and drama, and read these texts in relation to contemporary debates about multiculturalism, race and (anti-)racism, and British identity and society.
Additional Information:This module builds on the knowledge and skills that students have acquired at Level 4 (e.g. in their brief introduction to postcolonial studies on ‘Literary and Cultural Theory’), and offers them a means of preparing for a range of subsequent option modules (including ‘Postcolonial Writing’, ‘World Literature’, ‘Post-Millennial British Fiction’, and ‘Migrants to the Screen’). It also develops students’ ability to draw on secondary (e.g. critical and contextual) material when analysing literary texts, consolidating skills introduced at Level 4 and preparing students for Level 6 modules in which they are expected to make detailed and extended use of secondary material.
Assessments
Reflection
Practice
Essay