Department of English
The Art of Writing
Honours Programme
2014
University of the Western Cape
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Contents
C re a t i v e P r a c t i c e
Who is Eligible for the Programme?
Conventional Route
International Students
Recognition of Prior Learning
Other Important Information
General Points
Participation in Weekly Seminars
Structure of the Honours Programme
Course Information and Reading Lists
Semester 1 Compulsory Modules
Theories of Writing/Long Research Essay
Art of Writing A
Semester 1 Elective Modules
Creative Writing
Jane Austen: The Writer and Her Readers
Semester 2 Compulsory Modules
Theories of Writing/Long Research Essay
Art of Writing B
Beyond Honours…
Guidelines for Research Essays
Monitoring Your Progress & Postgraduate Support
Main Staff Research Areas
Departmental and Faculty Contact Details
Fees, Bursaries and Financial Support
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We welcome all enquiries.
An application does not guarantee admission to the programme.
In some cases, we may require applicants to write an assessment test.
To learn more about the Department of English, to apply online and to find out
about fees, visit www.uwc.ac.za. For more on our postgraduate courses contact Dr
Fiona Moolla at [email protected].
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Creative Practice: Literature, Media, Film
Are you interested in the creative processes that give us classic novels, cult films, influential poems or
digital media? Would you like to explore the relationship between fiction and the “real” world while
developing the capacity to think flexibly and imaginatively? Are you an educator? Do you want to
improve your subject expertise and ability to communicate your insights to those around you, and
possibly your salary?
Through the UWC Department of English postgraduate courses, you will explore imaginative writing in
all its forms, and study the emergence of ideas about authorship, narrative, and representation in a variety
of historical and geographical contexts. This innovative programme enables you to develop your skills as
a critical and creative writer, fosters your ability to think flexibly, rigorously and creatively, and enhances
the knowledge and skills that you bring to the classroom,.
This programme is open to applicants who have three years of literary studies at a tertiary institution,
preferably in English, or who can demonstrate they have acquired an equivalent level of knowledge and
expertise. Hons consists of four modules; three are compulsory and one is elective. The compulsory
modules are Art of Writing A, Art of Writing B, and Theories of Writing (which includes a research essay
of 10,000 words). Students choose their elective from those offered in that year.
We believe that creative expressions such as poetry, fiction, performance or film enable students to find
their intellectual and personal voices; our courses integrate these forms of creative expression and selfreflection into teaching and assessment. We assess students through short and long essays, tests, creative
work and participation/contribution. Teaching takes place through seminars of ninety minutes, and
attendance is compulsory. We will do our best to hold them at times that suit full-time and part-time
students.
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Who is Eligible for the Programme?
Conventional Route
Following the conventional route, to be considered for admission into the Honours programme, applicants
must have obtained at least 65% for English III or a closely cognate subject at another university. They
must submit a completed application form to the Arts Faculty and provide the Department with a certified
copy of their academic results. We require some applicants to write an assessment test, provide copies of
assignments from previous course, and/or attend an interview.
International Students
If you obtained the degree or qualification that forms the basis of your application from a non-South
African university, you must apply to the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). SAQA will
provide you with an officially recognised assessment of your degree’s equivalent in the SA higher
education system. You are welcome to apply to UWC once that process has started, but the Department can
only decide on your application when it has received the assessment. Contact SAQA at
http://www.saqa.org.za; ph: 012 431 5070.
Recognition of Prior Learning
UWC is committed to lifelong learning and welcomes applications from people who do not meet the
formal qualifications set out above. The Division of Lifelong Learning (DLL) assesses Recognition of
Prior Learning (RPL). For example, an educator with a teaching diploma or English II who has taught for
several years at high school, has a love of literature, and has gained experience in analysing a range of texts
and films, might apply for RPL. The DLL assesses RPL applications in a manner that is rigorous and
supportive, for it must determine whether an applicant has acquired the knowledge and skills needed to
pass to English III with a mark in the region of 65%. If you wish to apply for RPL, contact the DLL as
soon as you can, because the assessment process may take several months. Contact Prof Mark Abrahams at
[email protected], or ph 021 959 2799.
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Other Important Information
General Points
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For pedagogical reasons, we normally require at least three students to offer an elective module.
Obviously, this does not apply to the compulsory modules.
It is possible to change an elective module. At the beginning of the year, Honours and structured
Masters students enrol for options for both semesters. Students may change their options if they
complete and submit a written request for such a change by the beginning of March. If you are not sure
which elective to choose, speak to the lecturers concerned.
All the courses require regular and intensive reading and active preparation and participation in
seminars. The summer and mid-year vacations are opportunities to read and prepare for courses and
research.
As seminar discussions are an integral part of the programmes, attendance is compulsory. If a student
misses a seminar, s/he must inform the lecturer concerned in advance, stating a reason, and must
subsequently produce a written evaluation of the readings examined in the seminar s/he has missed.
Essay deadlines are strictly adhered to. A student who misses a deadline runs the risk of having to reregister for a module the following year.
If you encounter difficulties that temporarily inhibit your academic performance, be sure to keep the
Postgraduate Coordinator and the relevant lecturers informed. If you are unable to participate in the
programme for a longer period, you are required to apply for a suspension of your studies so as not to
jeopardise possible future re-registration.
It is essential to begin reading the set works during the summer holidays as some of the courses
require intense reading.
Participation in Weekly Seminars
As part of the intellectual community in the Department, postgraduate students (Hons, Masters and
Doctoral) participate in our weekly postgraduate/staff seminar programme. These seminars take place
during lunchtime (13h00-14h000) on Wednesdays in room D238. There staff members, visiting scholars,
and postgraduate students talk about their research. To encourage student participation, the seminars adopt
a ‘students first’ policy. Do not schedule any other activities during this period. The Centre for
Humanities Research (CHR), the Centre for Multilingualism and Diversity Research (CMDR) and
departments such as Arabic, Religion and Theology, Linguistics, Sociology and Anthropology, Geography
and Gender Studies hold seminar on other days of the week that might also interest you.
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Structure of the Honours Programme
You may take the Honours degree full-time over one calendar year or part-time over 18 months. For fulltime students, we have organized the programme so that you finish the bulk of the course work in the first
semester, and start the long research essay. This gives you more time to reflect on the ideas and texts you
encountered, and to complete your long research essay in a relaxed frame of mind.
Semester 1
Semester 2
ENG716 Art of Writing A; your choice of elective; ENG701 (start
Theories of Writing seminars; start long research essay)
ENG717 Art of Writing B; ENG701 (end Theories of Writing
seminars; finish long research essay)
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Semester 1 Compulsory modules
ENG701: Theories of Writing and Research Essay
Theories and Practices of Writing
As a supplement to the research essay module, we include twelve compulsory seminars on literary
practices and theories during the first semester. These seminars will provide you with a range of readings
and examples that highlight particular theoretical arguments, concepts, or styles of writing, and will enrich
the essay you will finally write on a particular research topic.
The focus of these classes is on the nature of writing. Although writing in a simple and informal way has,
for most of us, become second nature, this often obscures the processes by which we have come to write.
Whether we are writing a letter, an essay, a thesis, a legal brief, or even a note to ourselves, there are
certain ideas, assumptions, or conventions underpinning these efforts. We will foreground different
projects and study the ways in which they have been produced. These seminars will draw attention to
theories that focus on what it means to write.
We begin with two ancient Greek philosophers who have probably done more than anyone else to shape
our understanding of writing – Plato and Aristotle. Plato sees writing as a supplement to memory (we write
something down in order to remember it), and as that which weakens our memories in the sense that if we
write down something, we do not need to train or use our memories as much. Aristotle divides argument
into ethos, pathos, and logos. We will suggest that the academic essay, literary criticism for example,
comes straight out of Aristotle. He argued that effective writing must be logical (logos), credible (ethos),
and persuasive (pathos). We will also look at the way different concepts of writing have shaped the letter
and the essay, and how important this is for our understanding of what we call the novel.
The second term will consider three interrelated themes relevant to nineteenth and twentieth century
fiction. We will examine writings by Freud that shape influential ideas about the relationship between the
unconscious, creative work, and the nature of “civilization”. The writings of postcolonial and subaltern
studies theorists on Empire will be considered in the second seminar. A third seminar will pay particular
attention to late nineteenth and early twentieth century ideas about the city, fashion, and the impacts of
urban and technologized experience on perception and creativity.
Long Research Essay
In this part of the module, you explore a topic in more depth and detail than the taught courses allow
through a research essay of 10,000 words. For some students, this might seem a daunting prospect, but if
you think about how much you write each term, it is clearly manageable. Early in the academic year, you
will receive guidance in research and writing methods, and during the rest of the year there will be plenty
of opportunities to discuss your topic with fellow students and staff members. We strongly suggest that you
use one of the module assignments and expand it. You must complete a full first draft by the end of the
third term, and the final version is due by the end of the fourth term. Staff members will supervise monitor
and support your work.
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Term 1 (Peter Kohler)
Seminar 1.1 Classical philosophies of writing: from Aristotle, Rhetoric; Plato, Phaedrus; Derrida, ‘Plato’s
Pharmacy’ (Dissemination), and ‘White Mythology’ (Margins of Philosophy)
Seminar 1.2 The Essay: from Philip Sidney’s ‘An Apology for Poetry’; Montaigne, Essays; T.S. Eliot,
Selected Essays; Woolf, Selected Essays
Seminar 1.3 The Letter: from Von Hofmannsthal, Letters of Lord Chandos; Coetzee, ‘Postscript. Letter of
Elizabeth, Lady Chandos...’ (Elizabeth Costello); Derrida, ‘Letter to a Japanese Friend’
Term 2 (Lannie Birch, Mark Espin)
Seminar 2.1 Psychoanalytic notions of writing: from Sigmund Freud, ‘Creative Writers and Day-Dreaming’,
Civilization and its Discontents; from Catherine Belsey, Critical Practice, ‘The Interrogative Text’
Seminar 2.2 Writing and Empire: from Edward Said, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Anne McClintock, Gayatri
Spivak; interviews with various writers
Seminar 2.3 Urban experience and modernist perception: from Charles Baudelaire, ‘The Painter of Modern
Life’; Walter Benjamin, The Arcades Project; T.S. Eliot on Sherlock Holmes; from Marshall Berman, All
That is Solid Melts into Air
ENG716: The Art of Writing A
Adventures in the Novel, Narrative and Life
Term 1: Adventures in the novel: Novelty, newness, is intrinsic to the genre of the novel. The novel ventures
into often bold and contested experimentation with voice and characterization, with sometimes ambivalent
engagements with the history of ideas (the visual arts, science, and philosophy). The three texts, one
nineteenth century, one modernist, and one late twentieth century are each striking examples of the genre reimagining itself and its worlds. Their sometimes provocative, sometimes tentative re-figuring of history,
time, voice, and gender shapes reflection on the complex relationships between such concepts. For further
details, contact Lannie Birch: [email protected].
Key texts
George Eliot, Middlemarch
Virginia Woolf, Orlando
John Fowles, The French Lieutenant’s Woman.
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Term 2: Fictions of the Self: In this module, we look at three life stories from three very different
intellectual, historical, and geographical backgrounds: All three ask what it means to be human, and what it
means to suffer and overcome adversity. Their main point of interest lies in their explorations of journeys
into the labyrinth of the self. Behind each story, lie these questions: what is the relationship between the self
and civil liberties, the real and the imaginary, and between fiction and history? For further details, contact
Peter Kohler: [email protected].
Key texts
Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels
Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Bessie Head, A Question of Power
Semester 1 Elective Modules
ENG718: Creative Writing
During this course, students will have the chance to develop the skills and capabilities acquired during
the undergraduate creative writing module. Interested students should submit a sample of their creative
writing to Meg Vandermerwe. Students will write in both prose and poetry, attend practical workshops
and lectures and produce self-reflective essays, which place their writing in a literary and historical
context. They will finish the elective with a body of work that could be used to apply for the MA in
Creative Writing.
During the prose part of the course students will:
 experiment with writing in different genres and using narrative devices such as voice, setting and
figurative language
 complete an extended piece of prose writing, eg three short stories or two complete chapters of a
novel, which apply the skills developed in workshops.
Creative writers are also readers. We will read fiction extracts from a range of genres written by South
African and non-South African authors, and theoretical texts that discuss the art of creative writing.
These will inform a self-reflective essay, in which students place their work in a literary, cultural,
historical and personal context.
In the poetry part of the course, students will be expected to:
 compose a cycle of poems in which they demonstrate a facility with form (haiku, sonnet and
rhetorical devices like alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia)
 write a self-reflective essay on a contemporary poet analyzing how the writing strategies of the poet
have influenced their own writing.
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We will study contemporary poets from black British poets to Nobel Laureates, Derek Walcott and
Wislawa Szymborska. Students will buy a reader of their work and those of others like Ted Hughes,
Rustum Kozain, and Jo Shapcott.
General expectations
We are keen to produce not just writers, but also South African writers who are aware of the country’s
broader literary traditions. Consequently students will be encouraged to engage in a creative dialogue
with their Xhosa and Afrikaans Honours counterparts, through joint workshops, events and lectures. For
further details contact Meg Vandermerwe: [email protected].
Key texts
Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye (Vintage)
Ali Smith, Hotel World (Penguin)
K Sello Duiker, The Hidden Star (Umuzi)
Course reader containing prose and poetry
ENG762: Jane Austen: The Writer and Her Readers
This course explores Austen’s innovations of plot, character, and narrative voice, in comparison with her
contemporaries. Students rewrite beginnings and endings, experiment with different forms of narrative voice,
and complete unfinished manuscripts as we follow the development of the writer’s works from her Juvenilia
to the complexities of the later novels. We will consider debates about the ‘silence’ on slavery in her novels,
and explore contemporary re-writings and adaptations. For further details, contact Cheryl Ann Michael:
[email protected].
Key texts
Austen, Sense and Sensibility ISBN 0-141-43966-1
______ Pride and Prejudice ISBN 0-141-43951-3
______ Emma ISBN 0-14-143958-0
______ Northanger Abbey ISBN 0-14-143979-3
______ Mansfield Park ISBN 0-141-43980-7
______ Persuasion ISBN 0-14-143968-8
______ Catherine and Other Writings ISBN 0-19-282823-1
______ Lady Susan and Sanditon
Tomalin, Jane Austen (biography) ISBN 0-140-29690-5
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Semester 2 Compulsory Modules
ENG701
ENG717: The Art of Writing B
Term 3: Contemporary South African Fiction: This term introduces students to the field of South African
literature written in English from 1945 onwards. We examine a number of significant texts, with a particular
emphasis on their literary and cultural environment, together with key theoretical debates on the relationship
between the literary text and the political context. We will also explore the contested idea of ‘South African
Literature’, and contemporary shifts and emerging trends in the field since 2000. For further details, contact
Hermann Wittenberg: [email protected].
Key texts
Alan Paton, Cry, the beloved Country
J.M. Coetzee, Life and Times of Michael K
Redi Tlhabi, Endings and Beginnings
Lauren Beukes, Moxyland
Term 4: Perspectives from the Global South: This part of the module enters local and global conversations
from an ecological, species and gender-refracted vantage point. The texts studied review debates on intimate
relationships, and relationships between persons and the natural world within both a national and
international context, sensitive to cultural specificities and global wealth flows. There is a strong continental
African focus, with a widening towards modulations within the broader global south. For further details,
contact Julia Martin: [email protected].
Key texts
Leila Aboulela, The Translator
Lola Shoneyin, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives
Wangari Maathai, Unbowed: One Woman’s Story
Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide
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Beyond Honours…
The Department offers MA degrees by thesis and coursework, including the MA in Creative Writing, and
PhD degrees.
Contact the Postgraduate Coordinator for further details.
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Guidelines for Research Essays
See Student Handbook for examples of title page, citation methods, and bibliography. Please follow these.
Presentation is an aspect that will be marked.
Subject Librarian: Ms S James ([email protected]) ph: 021 9592907
Introduction
Your introduction should engage directly with your topic. Identify key words in your topic before you begin
research. Your introduction should make clear your response to aspects of the question. What will be the
focus and argument of your essay? Set out aspects to be explored in the order in which you will discuss
them.
Body of essay
Select a few extracts for close analysis. Ensure that these are directly related to your topic and argument. Do
not quote long sections from the texts. If the extract you wish to analyse is longer than a paragraph, note the
beginning of the extract followed by ellipses (…) and the end of the extract, with page numbers (follow
citation methods in handbook). Attach photocopies of long quotations to your essay from your edition of the
text. When quoting from your novel, footnote the first quotation, citing the edition, and in brackets note that
all quotations from the novel are from this edition and are indicated by page numbers in brackets following
the quotation. Indent quotations longer than three lines.
Close analysis: this may include a discussion of genre (form of the text), as well as discussions of sentence
structure, the significance of words, dialogue, metaphors, and other literary forms. Your analysis should
speak to the arguments set out in your introduction. How is form used to explore the ideas of the text and
period?
Critical Works
This is a research essay. You are expected to show evidence of your own research. If you are unsure whether
a source is academically appropriate, consult the lecturer concerned. This is your responsibility. Please
contact the subject librarian for assistance with electronic searches. You should consult a range of accredited
critical works: journals, electronic journals and databases, collections of essays, monographs etc. Avoid
internet sites which offer ‘notes’ on texts or writers – these are not peer-reviewed. Select critical works,
which reflect different approaches and arguments. Quote only arguments or interpretations that are relevant
to your topic. Do not cite critical views as a replacement for your own reading. Always make clear your own
response to the critic’s point of view. Do you agree or disagree with the proposed reading of the text?
Support your argument with quotations from the novel. Avoid quoting as if the quotation itself demonstrates
the point on its own. You must follow with an analysis that supports your reading.
Conclusion
Your conclusion should not simply repeat your introduction. Here you might consider why the writer has
chosen to explore certain ideas. How have these ideas, as explored in the novel, influenced your
understanding of the period?
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Monitoring Your Progress
To trace the progress of individual students, the Faculty of Arts has a monitoring system in place, which
requires students and supervisors to report twice a year to the dean on progress.
Failure to complete in time
If you fail to complete your programme within the prescribed period, you will need to obtain special
permission from the Arts Faculty Postgraduate Board of Studies to re-register for the following year. This
special permission requires the support of your supervisor, the Head of Department, and a clear plan that shows
how and when you will complete.
Suspension of Studies
If you feel that you need to suspend your studies, discuss your concerns with the Postgraduate Coordinator.
You will have to apply in writing to the Arts Faculty Postgraduate Board of Studies. You will need to obtain
supporting letters from the Head of Department and the Postgraduate Coordinator or your supervisor. When
you want to resume your studies, you will have to apply for permission to reregister, again with the support of
the Head of Department and the Postgraduate Coordinator or your supervisor. In this way, you will avoid
exceeding the time limit set for your programme.
Postgraduate Support Groups
There are several structures in place to support postgraduate students in their studies.
The University offers regular postgraduate support through the Postgraduate Enrolment and Throughput (PET)
project. PET organises workshops on a regular basis, starting in term one. Watch the postgraduate notice
boards as well as the electronic notice board Theta for announcements.
Workshops include sessions on how to write a research proposal, how to write a literature review, how to
conduct bibliographical research, library training, etc.
Workshops are free of charge, but booking is essential. Contact Dr Lorna Holtman at (021) 9592451 or via
email: [email protected].
The Library also regularly offers special sessions for postgraduate students on how to access electronic sources.
Information on the PET project can also be found on the postgraduate notice board and the university’s
electronic bulletin board: http://www.thetha.uwc.ac.za or http://www.uwc.ac.za.
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Main Staff Research Areas
There are numerous other areas of expertise and specialization in the department. If a staff member is
on leave, it may not be possible to offer supervision in a particular area. Please consult the postgraduate
coordinator for more information.
Bharuthram, Sharita ([email protected]): academic development, with a focus on the link
between reading and writing.
Birch, Lanny ([email protected]): modernism; South African literature; Roy Campbell; gender
studies.
Espin, Mark ([email protected]): the contemporary novel, particularly the intersections between
fiction and history; modern poetry; aesthetic theory; travel writing; literature and censorship; themes in
literature for children.
Field, Roger ([email protected]): South African literature; literature of the Western Cape;
psychoanalytic and historical approaches to literature, painting and comics; theories of influence;
relationships between law and literature; literary knowledge; modernism; the relationship between
mythology, the classics and Africa; biography and autobiography.
Goodman, Kenneth ([email protected]): role of home-based discourse in academic literacy;
placement testing; assessment and computer literacy in the academic context; teaching for transfer;
queer and masculinities studies.
Kohler, Peter ([email protected]): South African literature; literary theory; archival research.
Martin, Julia ([email protected]): environmental literacy; creative nonfiction; engaged Buddhism.
Michael, Cheryl-Ann ([email protected]): narrative theory and theories of autobiography;
children’s literature; 19th century fiction (Jane Austen, George Eliot, Elizabeth Gaskell, Charles
Dickens, Anthony Trollope); slave narratives (18th and 19th century British and American narratives),
the history of art and the novel, narratives of science and the novel, cultures of food writing (essays,
memoirs and fiction).
Moolla, Fiona ([email protected]): the novel, literary representations of the self, oratures and
literatures of the African continent with a special interest in Eastern Africa.
Ntete, Susan ([email protected]): teaching English as a second language; applied linguistics.
Parr, Tony ([email protected]): Renaissance literature and drama; travel writing; modern fiction and
poetry.
Patel, Mahmoud ([email protected]): second language acquisition in an academic development (AD)
context; law and language development in an AD context.
Vandermerwe, Meg ([email protected]): creative writing, immigrant writing, AfricanAmerican women’s writing; American literature and theory post-1945.
Volschenk, Jacolien ([email protected]): science fiction; feminism; academic literacy.
Wittenberg, Hermann ([email protected]): South African literary representations of space and
landscape; book history, journalism and hypermedia.
Woodward, Wendy ([email protected]): South African literature; animality and ethics in
literature, film and art.
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Contact Details
Department of English
Physical address: Department of English, 2nd floor, New Arts Building, UWC, Robert Sobukwe
Road, Bellville, Cape Town. New Arts is on the Robert Sobukwe Rd side of the Great Hall.
Postal address: Department of English, Private Bag X17, Bellville 7535.
Secretary (Room D202)
Ms Shirley Sampson, ph: 021 959 2964,
fax: 021 959 2202
email: [email protected]
Head of Department
Semester 1: Prof Tony Parr, ph: 021 959 2964
email: [email protected]
Semester 2: Prof Hermann Wittenberg, ph: 021 959 2964
email: [email protected]
Postgraduate Co-ordinator (Room D218)
Dr Fiona Moolla, ph: 021 959 3885/2964
email: [email protected]
Administrative Officer (Room D201)
Ms Winnie Roos, ph: 021 959 2197
email: [email protected]
Faculty of Arts
Dean of the Arts Faculty
Prof Duncan Brown, ph: 021 959 2235
email: [email protected]
Arts Faculty Office
Ph: 021 959 2152; fax: 021 959 2376
Arts Faculty Postgraduate Officer
Ms Villeen Beerwinkel, ph; 021 959 9257
email: [email protected]
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Fees, Bursaries & Financial Support
The general rate of increase is about 10% per annum.
Based on the 2013 fees, in 2014, Hons students can expect to pay in the region of
R5797 per module. These are estimates. For further details on the exact fees for 2014,
please contact Ms Zolisa Ntshwanti, ph 021 959 3108
email: [email protected].
The Arts Faculty has a limited number of bursaries for Hons students, which are
allocated to the Departments. These are not means-tested. In general, these bursaries
are allocated to South African nationals. If you would like to apply for one of these,
please contact the Head of Department.
It may also be possible to work as the Research Assistant for a staff member on a fivemonth or ten-month contract. These contracts require you to perform tasks which aid
the staff member’s research, or make it possible for him or her to conduct their own
research.
For information about the bursaries or the Research Assistant posts, contact the 2014
Postgraduate Coordinator.
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