1968 was an explosive year: the Paris May events, student protest and violent riots in cities across North and Latin America, the assassination of Martin Luther King and the Tet Offensive, seemed signs of a world on the brink, but may also be seen as key moments in an era of engagement with visions of radical change at all levels. This course will focus on the theories of culture, society and the subject that underpinned and developed out of that period of engagement in the late '60s and '70s and will trace some of its continuities through the century and beyond. The aim of the course is to familiarise students with the texts and contexts of the radical movements which triggered both the rise and the resistance to theory in our discipline and to reflect on the relevance and contemporary forms of some of their unresolved hypotheses.

10 x 2-hour seminars

This is one of the Honours options in English Literature and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on MyCampus.

ENGLIT4022  Radical Theory

 The standard assessments for this course are: 

■ Essay (1000 words): 20%  

■ Essay (3000 words): 50%  

■ Seminar and film screening contribution: 10%  

■ Seminar presentation of 12 minutes: 20% 

If required, for instance where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, the following alternatives are available: 

■ There are no alternatives to the assessments, but flexible deadlines can be offered as reasonable adjustment (Students should follow the usual process for extensions). 

■ There are no alternatives to the assessments, but flexible deadlines can be offered as reasonable adjustment (Students should follow the usual process for extensions). 

■ Written self-evaluation reflecting on seminar contribution or written response to seminar material in advance or after seminar as alternative to seminar contribution.

■ Recorded presentation or one-to-one presentation / discussion/Q&A with staff (where presentation would normally be in class) as alternative to presentation.

Further reasonable adjustments may be provided where necessary. Students are encouraged to consult with the course convenor.  

This course will provide the opportunity to:

■ familiarise students with the texts and contexts of the radical movements of the 1960s and 70s and, later, with theories and practices of critique, textuality, subjectivity and representation originating in that period and prompting the rise of theory in our discipline

■ familiarise students with a range of material from the period, including writings on literature, the visual arts and psychoanalysis, as well as film

■ encourage students to reflect on the relevance and contemporary expressions of some of the debates about literary and cultural theory and practice that were central to the period. 

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ demonstrate the ability to engage closely and critically with theoretical and literary texts from the period

■ demonstrate the ability to locate and reflect on the contemporary treatment of some of the core issues and hypotheses formulated in the period

■ demonstrate the ability to produce cogent, closely argued and well researched essays and short presentation/discussion papers based on material studied on the course.