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ENG32870

Academic Year 2025/2026

The Modernist Novel (ENG32870)

Subject:
English
College:
Arts & Humanities
School:
English, Drama & Film
Level:
3 (Degree)
Credits:
10
Module Coordinator:
Professor John Brannigan
Trimester:
Autumn and Spring (separate)
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

In this module, we will study novels from the early twentieth century, a time of experimentalism, adventure, and extraordinary achievement in the writing of fiction. We will combine close attention to specific literary innovations with sustained engagement with the broader cultural and political contexts of modernism. The module will explore in what ways the formalist revolutions of modernism were linked to the intellectual and political crises of the period. In addition to studying the novels, we will pay close attention to how the modernist novel has been conceptualised critically, both by modernist authors and by critical scholars.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Identify and critically analyse the formal innovations of the modernist novel in English.
2. Examine the relationship between fictional experimentation and historical contexts.
3. Formulate critical arguments about modernist fictional texts and situate those arguments within current scholarly debates.

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Seminar (or Webinar)

24
Specified Learning Activities

96
Autonomous Student Learning

80
Total

200

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
The module is taught through a weekly two-hour seminar. The seminar will consist of group discussion, task-based learning, and close reading exercises. Students will also learn through critical writing exercises, engagement with contemporary critical sources, and engagement with contextual materials on the cultural and political contexts of modernism.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Assignment(Including Essay): Close-reading assignment (20%) 800 words; assignment due week 7 Week 7 Graded No
20
 No
Assignment(Including Essay): Working Bibliography (10%); Fully formatted and researched draft bibliography in preparation for the final essay. Week 9 Graded No
10
 No
Assignment(Including Essay): Final essay - 3000 words based on assigned or chosen topics (70%). Week 14 Graded No
70
 No

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 

Remediation Type Remediation Timing
Repeat Within Two Trimesters
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.

James Joyce, Ulysses (extracts provided)
Ford Madox Ford, The Good Soldier
Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway
Elizabeth Bowen, The Last September
Sam Selvon, The Lonely Londoners

*There are many print, digital and audio editions of these novels. Affordable second-hand print editions are easily obtainable from online bookshops.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Autumn Seminar Offering 1 Week(s) - Autumn: All Weeks Tues 14:00 - 15:50
Spring Seminar Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Tues 14:00 - 15:50
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