Contemporary British and Irish Fiction (ENG4866)
Dr Dara Downey ([email protected])
Module Descriptor
“Contemporary British and Irish Fiction” charts some of the generic and thematic strands
running through the novels and short fiction produced in Britain and Ireland over the last
thirty to forty years. Focusing on texts broadly conceived as mainstream or even “canonical”
fiction, the module examines the ways in which such texts employ and are influenced by a
range of “popular” genres, including detective fiction, historical fiction, the gothic, fantasy,
and magic realism. In doing so, it aims both to demonstrate the wide variety of kinds of
fictional texts produced in Britain and Ireland during the contemporary period, and to
examine the ways in which “realism” as a critical and creative category has evolved since the
final decades of the twentieth century. The course therefore also encourages students to
consider issues relating to the literary marketplace throughout the period under discussion,
both in terms of readership and of categorisation. Along with generic and formal concerns,
particularly in relation to innovative or experimental stylistic and formal techniques,
questions of nationality, gender identity, and the relationships with the past are central
concerns of the module.
Each week, a student (or two, for weeks covering longer texts) will be selected to choose a
particularly apt or striking passage from the text covered that week. This passage will then
form the basis for discussion in the second half of the class, which will be led by the chosen
student.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course in English Studies a student should be able to:
•
Identify and critically discuss a wide range of fictional texts by British and Irish
authors, from the 1980s to the early 2000s.
•
Display an awareness of critical, cultural and historical approaches to both British and
Irish literature.
•
Demonstrate through written work and in-class discussions a broad knowledge of the
scope and variety of fictional texts from the contemporary period.
•
Differentiate between a variety of genres and formal modes of British and Irish
literature during the period.
Assessment
The module will be assessed through written work, in the form of short essays (2x1000
words, to be handed in by Week 8 of each semester), and longer, end-of-semester essays
(2x5000 words).
Semester 1
Class Schedule
Week 1: Introduction
Week 2: John Banville, The Book of Evidence
Week 3: John Connolly, selected stories from Nocturnes
Week 4: David Peace, Nineteen Seventy-Four
Week 5: Martin Amis, Money
Week 6: Ali Smith, The Accidental
Week 7: NO CLASS
Week 8: Colm Tobin, The Master
Week 9: Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall
Week 10: Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall
Week 11: Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
Week 12: Ian McEwan, Black Dogs
Semester 2
Week 1: Angela Carter, selected stories from The Bloody Chamber
Week 2: Alasdair Gray, Poor Things
Week 3: Irving Welsh, Filth
Week 4: Iain Banks, The Wasp Factory
Week 5: Patrick McCabe, Winterwood
Week 6: Kevin Power, Bad Day at Blackrock
Week 7: NO CLASS
Week 8: Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
Week 9: Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
Week 10: Zadie Smith, White Teeth
Week 11: Helen Oyeyemi, The Opposite House
Week 12: Salman Rushdie, selected stories from East/West