Department of English, University of the Free State

Undergraduate Major in Literary and Cultural Studies

Curriculum Phased in from 2015-2017

ENGL 1514:
Students are introduced to reading, writing and critical textual analysis through the lens of literary studies in English. Through the close reading of a selection of literary texts, ENGL 1514 trains students to develop the interpretative, analytical, writing, reading and oral communication skills required for university-level critical engagement.

In other words, the module cultivates the basic critical literacies required for the subsequent study of literary and cultural texts in English. While the emphasis is on English literary studies, close attention will be paid to developing basic skills in essay writing, critical interpretation and communication.

The latter skills are developed in consultation and collaboration with the Centre for Teaching and Learning at UFS.

ENGL 1624
This builds on the foundation provided in the first semester, but expands the sites of critical analysis into the fields of cultural and film studies. These fields will be introduced alongside a deepening study of literary terms and methods of analysis, and will provide students with a greater range of texts through which to develop their writing, reading and analytical skills.

ENGL 2614 and ENGL 2724
These take students deeper into the field of English literary studies by building on their knowledge of some of the primary historical periods, genres, methods, movements, theoretical frameworks and critical approaches that have been used in this field in past and present contexts.

These courses pay close attention to further developing basic skills in reading, writing and critical textual analysis even as they lay the groundwork for advanced critical research in English literary and cultural studies. The courses therefore provide the necessary critical scaffolding both for students hoping to continue with advanced postgraduate work and those who wish to apply this knowledge as English teachers in primary and secondary schools.

ENGL 3718 and ENGL 3828
These each consist of two parts designed to give students the opportunity to deepen their training in a range of texts tied to historical periods and movements, as well as to local and global contexts in the fields of English Literary and Cultural Studies. These fields include;

• Early English Literatures and Cultures; 
• South African and African Literature;
• Narratives of Resistance; and
• Specialised topics in the fields of Cultural and Film Studies. 

This knowledge base should serve as a firm intellectual foundation for not only further research both at the UFS and elsewhere, but also for the long-term process of critical social engagement required of students in their everyday lives.

• ENGL 1514:

Reading Literature: An Introduction to Reading, Writing and Critical Textual Analysis
NQF level 5

ENGL 1514 is aimed at helping students to develop the knowledge base and skills central to the analysis of literature. It offers an introduction to the history of literary production in the English language, as well as to some of the theories, terms and methods central to the discipline of English literary studies.

This includes an introduction to genre as a mode of organising literary representation;
- the basic elements of literature such as plot, character, style, theme, setting, figures of speech, imagery,   tone, rhythm and diction;
- local South African and African literary production; historical trends in British and global English literatures;
- and the role of literature as cultural texts that both shape and are shaped by history and politics.

Students are introduced to a range of methods used in English literary studies, including close textual analysis; historical and cultural contextualisation; and methods of analysis derived from literary and other critical and cultural theories.

They will also be trained to gather and analyse information from sources that include literary texts; critical and theoretical literatures; and cultural texts such as films, artwork and advertising. Students are encouraged to cultivate and expand these critical skills also in their communities and everyday lives, to become central agents in their own learning and to take responsibility for the process of knowledge acquisition.

ENGL 1514 places a range of literary texts within their historical, cultural, national and ideological contexts, thereby enabling students to see their work as part of a larger epistemological and conceptual system.

Outcomes: After successful completion of this course, students should be able to demonstrate knowledge of some of the key terms, historical movements and theories central to the field of English literary studies. Students should be able to demonstrate an awareness of how knowledge about English literature has historically been produced and continues to change as the disciplinary boundaries of the field expand in conversation with knowledge production in other fields.

Students should be able to make use of the theories, methods and knowledge acquired in this course to identify and analyse problems that are posed in literary texts as well as to solve problems that emerge in the process of textual analysis.

Students should also be able to demonstrate an awareness of the ethical codes of conduct, values and practices that guide researchers in the field of English literary study. This includes an awareness of the meaning and stakes of academic dishonesty.

One of the key objectives of this course is to equip students with the basic writing, reading and oral communication skills at the heart of critical and creative deliberation in literary studies.

These outcomes will be achieved by way of carefully designed assignments to help students fine-tune these basic skills on a weekly basis both in class and in tutorial. By the end of this course, students should demonstrate the ability to formulate sound arguments in clear, grammatically accurate written and spoken language. In short, this course provides a rigorous introduction to the basics of reading, writing and critical textual analysis as these skills pertain specifically to the study of literary and other cultural texts.

• ENGL 1624: Reading Literature, Film and Culture

  NQF level 6

• ENGL 1624 builds on the knowledge provided in ENGL 1514 but expands the range of texts analysed and methods used. Whereas the former course focuses specifically on texts, theories, terms and methods in the field of English literary studies, ENGL 1624 draws additionally on models of analysis developed in the fields of cultural studies and film studies.

  Outcomes: After meticulous engagement with course materials and successful completion of this course, students should be able to demonstrate knowledge of some of the key concepts, methods and theories used for analysing cultural texts such as novels, poems, plays, films, critical essays, cartoons, news reports and photographs. In addition to expanding their knowledge of the basic elements of literary representation, students will be given a broad introduction to the study of film (including the basic vocabulary of film studies; different theoretical approaches to film; and specific ways of grouping films (e.g. by genre, region, historical context, or authorship)) as well as some of the foundational critical concepts used in the field of cultural studies.

• One of the key aims of this course is to provide rigorous training in a variety of skills fundamental to the analysis of literature and culture. Students will be given instruction on how to read closely for detail and nuance; how to identify patterns that cut across a range of representational forms; how to distinguish and evaluate critical perspectives; how to situate texts within their historical and ideological contexts; and how to weigh evidence and formulate arguments in grammatically accurate written and spoken language. Students will be offered frequent opportunity to practise their interpretative, analytical, reading, writing and oral communication skills both in the form of written assignments and participation in class and tutorial.

• ENGL 2614: Early Modern to Contemporary World Literatures

  NQF level 6/7

  This course fosters a broad understanding of literatures written in English from the early modern era to the present using a variety of critical approaches. In any given year, the texts selected may be drawn from contexts such as early modern or contemporary Britain, the US, Africa, or other countries across the globe.

• ENGL 2614 builds on and expands the knowledge covered in ENGL 1514 and 1624 – students should have passed these to take ENGL 2614. Whereas ENGL 1514 and 1624 offered students an introduction to the basics of literary and cultural interpretation and analysis, this course will dwell in greater depth and detail on literary nuance and thematic meaning, as well as on historical periods, genres and movements.

• Students will be offered a more rigorous overview of the interpretative and theoretical tools that help readers make sense of literary representation in past and present contexts, and will be introduced to some of the major literary and theoretical movements that these texts emerge from. The course will place emphasis in particular on sharpening and further developing critical skills in reading, writing and oral communication.

• Outcomes: Students who have successfully completed this course should have a sound understanding of some of major movements, authors and ideas in English literary history. Student should have developed a confident familiarity with some of the most influential theoretical frameworks for literary study to have emerged from specific historical periods and cultural contexts. In any given year, these frameworks might include, but are not limited to, feminism, post-colonialism, critical race theory, psychoanalysis and genre theory.

• Learners will have developed the ability to read a literary text as an articulation of not only a particular cultural and historical moment but also of a longer socio-cultural inheritance.

• By the end of this course, students should be able to produce carefully crafted and grammatically accurate written assignments that clearly demonstrate their aptitude for close textual analysis, historical contextualisation, language usage and persuasive argumentation.

• ENGL 2724: Twentieth Century and Modernist Literatures

  NQF level 7

  This module builds on the ENGL 2614 and focuses on a selection of literary texts and theories that have emerged in the fields of Twentieth Century and Modernist Literatures. The course will provide students with a firm understanding of the conceptual and theoretical concerns that influenced literary and cultural production from the early Twentieth Century to the present.

• We will strike a balance between the study of mainstream authors and of historically marginalised literary production during this time. Whereas ENGL 2614 offered a relatively broad overview of literatures written in English from the early modern era to the present, this course will be more focused in terms of the fields that it surveys and the historical and cultural contexts from which literary and cultural texts under discussion emanate.

• Building on critical skills already developed in ENGL 1514, ENGL 1624 and ENGL 2614, students will be asked to engage in greater depth and detail with the areas of literary and critical theory that pertain to the texts under discussion than they did in previous modules. Careful attention will be paid to refining analytical, writing and oral communication skills.

  Outcomes: On successful completion of the course, the student will be able to:

• recognise the value of multiple perspectives and develop competence in giving and receiving constructive criticism;

• demonstrate analytic and oral skills related to the interpretation of different literary theories and genres; demonstrate an understanding of the importance of the role of literature as a tool for social commentary as well as the role of criticism in deciphering cultural production and social change;

• identify the relationship between literature and its social context; demonstrate advanced writing and critical thinking skills.

• ENGL 3718: Early English Literatures and Cultures; South African and African Literature and Culture

  NQF Level 7

  ENGL 3718 consists of two separate modules: ‘Early English Literatures and Cultures’ and ‘South African and African Literature’.

• Students should have passed ENGL 1514, 1624, 2614 and 2724 to take this course. Students will also be required to choose a seminar on a topic of their choice, to be presented by a selection of lecturers each year. Seminar topics will be made available at the start of each semester.

  ‘Early English Literatures and Cultures’: This section of the module introduces students to selected texts from the many genres of literature current during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, providing them with the necessary technical skills and cultural-historical context for comprehension as well as presenting them with various theoretical paradigms used for analysis.

• The fluidity of criticism across the centuries will be demonstrated, while still-current debates on issues such as knowledge, power, gender, superstition (e.g. witchcraft), and ethics will be highlighted.

  Outcomes: On successful completion of this section of the module, students will have demonstrated their comprehension of the texts and their contexts; their ability to analyse the texts from various theoretical positions; their familiarity with the major critical resources, and their understanding of the ways in which new literary or cultural evidence can interrogate and problematise previously ‘definitive’, ‘harmonising’ or reductive notions.

• In particular, they will be able to comment on concerns revealed in the texts which still resonate with some of the issues of the present day, notably in their own (South) African context. Finally, they will have demonstrated their ability to evaluate all these aspects and to integrate them intelligently and ethically into their own critical writing in accordance with academic convention.

  ‘South African and African Literature and Culture’: This course offers an in-depth introduction to literary production in Africa and South Africa, focusing specifically on the circulation of power and desire in this body of work. We will examine a selection of literary texts by asking questions about the aesthetic and imaginative strategies used to interrogate the conditions of subject and cultural formation in the socio-historical contexts from which these texts emerge.

  Outcomes: On successful completion of this part of ENGL 3718, students should:

• have obtained a firm understanding of the fields of African and South African literary and cultural production, as well as of the theories and methodologies that have historically informed the study of these texts; be able to critically assess a range of (South) African literary and cultural texts in terms of their capacity to represent and nuance everyday life in specific cultural, political and historical contexts;

• have developed a refined understanding of the stylistic and formal literary strategies and devices used to illuminate complex human problems in African contexts;

• be able to formulate sophisticated arguments about literary meaning in clear, grammatically accurate English;

• and have cultivated independent research and critical reasoning skills that can be transferred beyond the classroom.

• ENGL 3828: Narratives of Resistance; Literature, Film, Culture: Critical Approaches from Cultural Studies

  NQF Level 7

  ENGL 3828 consists of two separate modules: ‘Narratives of Resistance’ and ‘Literature, Film, Culture: Critical Approaches from Cultural Studies’. Students should have passed ENGL 1514, 1624, 2614 and 2724 to take this course. Students will also be required to choose a seminar on a topic of their choice, to be presented by a selection of lecturers each year. Seminar topics will be made available at the start of each semester.

  ‘Narratives of Resistance’ considers a selection of literary texts and relevant theories that deal with narratives of violence and resistance. The focus falls on different types of interpersonal, organizational, or politically orientated violation perpetrated against people due to their gender identity, sexual orientation, religious or political affiliations or location in the hierarchy of male-dominated social systems.

  Outcomes: By the end of this section of the course, students should be able to:

• demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of prevailing theories, approaches, and practices related to the field of resistance literature;

• be able to demonstrate critical thinking that takes into account the variety of human experience and significant differences among cultural value systems; be able to convincingly analyse, interpret, and explicate literary texts in light of pertinent critical assumptions;

• be able to conduct independent research on a literary topic;

• be able to synthesise the results of such research in grammatically accurate and persuasive essays written in accordance with current Departmental guidelines.

• Students should also be acquainted with the relationships between literature and other expressions of culture, such as art, music, philosophy, and so forth.

• ‘Literature, Film, Culture: Critical Approaches from Cultural Studies’ examines a selection of literary and cultural texts using methods drawn from cultural studies and critical theory. Areas of investigation in any given year may include subjectivity; power/knowledge; the body; popular and consumer cultures; community; nature; non-human life; biopolitics; the everyday; representation; the city; and globalisation.

  Outcomes: By the end of this part of ENGL 3828 students should have:

• obtained specialised and integrated knowledge of a range of theories, concepts and methods that have been used in the fields of cultural studies to analyse literary and cultural texts; be able to critically evaluate a selection of literary, theoretical and film texts for their political, formal, stylistic, cultural and ideological implications;

• reflect on the ethical and political implications of how cultural texts have come to be presented in the terms and forms currently available to us;

• be able to apply the critical terms and theories covered in class in their oral and written analyses of a selection of literary and cultural texts;

• and be able to write grammatically accurate and persuasive essays that make correct use of the conventions of academic writing.

• Students should, at this stage, also be able to construct analytical arguments using evidence accumulated by way of individual and collaborative research.

  One of the primary objectives of this course is to equip students with the critical tools required for a sustained questioning of their roles as interpreters and inheritors of culture in local South African and global contexts.

• In short, the course aims to train students in a range of literacies - including critical, visual, cross-cultural, transnational and digital literacies – with the ultimate aim of helping students apply the critical vocabularies they acquired as part of their undergraduate disciplinary training both within and beyond the classroom.