Module overview
Jane Austen’s global appeal in the twenty-first century has been shaped by the ways that she has been read in the 200 years since her death. In this module, you will read Austen's novels, letters, and unpublished juvenile fiction, and explore some of the debates that have been important in Austen scholarship. Through these core texts, you will be invited to consider the following questions : was Jane Austen a feminist, and why might this matter? How did she perceive social class? What do her novels tell us about landscape or nation, canon or colonialism? You will become familiar with the critical terrain of Austen studies, and you will examine some of the uses made of her life and fiction, from the early nineteenth century to the twenty first.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of a variety of critical approaches to Austen's writing and life.
- you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of specific theoretical issues around the adaptation of Austen's work.
- you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of Austen's complete works, including her unpublished writing.
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- you will be able to understand and explain literary scholarship on Austen.
- you will be able to use this research and understanding to debate a variety of scholarly perspectives.
- you will be able to reflect on your own position as a scholar in relation to debates in Austen's own time, and today.
- you will be able to give an account of the practices which made - and continue to make - Austen a popular author.
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- you will be able to think and write with clarity and conviction.
- you will be able to manage your time efficiently.
- you will be able to identify and summarise the main debates in a given field.
Syllabus
Jane Austen’s modern reception and immense popularity have been moulded and influenced by the ways that she has been read in the 200 years since her death. Whilst the release of her letters in 1884 and a more complete collection in 1932 opened up Jane Austen’s world in unprecedented ways for readers, modern interpretations of her novels continue to change the ways that Austen’s work is perceived in biography, film, and academia. Her novels and life have been adapted, remixed, and translated into an ever-growing body of films, television series, books, graphic novels, YouTube channels, and even video games—a thriving media industry. Her imagined Regency World influences new media outside of adaptations of her novels too.
This module will allow you to read or revisit Austen’s novels, letters and unpublished work, and to develop a thorough understanding of the key conceptual debates as we chart the ways in which Austen’s novels have been read by twentieth and twenty-first century critics. You will explore ways scholars have approached some of the important questions of Austen’s novels: gender, marriage, class, money, and Englishness. You will also be introduced to emerging new directions in Austen studies, and encouraged to draw on a wide range of critical theories to develop your own readings of Austen’s fiction and adaptations of her œuvre.
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
Teaching methods include
- lectures
- seminars
- individual consultations
- feedback on written work and seminar presentations
Learning activities include
- reading assigned texts
- independent research
- seminar discussion and presentations
- writing essays
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Seminar | 22 |
| Lecture | 22 |
| Preparation for scheduled sessions | 82 |
| Completion of assessment task | 124 |
| Follow-up work | 50 |
| Total study time | 300 |
Resources & Reading list
General Resources
Module Resources will vary from year to year.. You will need your own copy of Jane Austen's Letters and several of her novels (this will vary from year to year). You will be given access to viewings of adaptations, which may include screenings for the whole group. Suggested Criticism may include: Copeland, E. and McMaster, J. (2011) The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen, 2nd edn (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) Johnson, C. L. (1988) Jane Austen: Women, Politics, and the Novel (Chicago, University of Chicago Press) Looser, D. (2017) The Making of Jane Austen (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press) Sutherland, K. (2005) Jane Austen’s Textual Lives: From Aeschylus to Bollywood (Oxford: Oxford University Press)
Assessment
Assessment strategy
This module includes a compulsory class presentation to enable you to test your ideas with the group before you submit your work for assessment. Individual discussions and feedback on seminar contributions will also help you to judge how you are progressing in the module.
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Essay | 40% |
| Essay | 60% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Essay | 40% |
| Essay | 60% |
Repeat
An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Essay | 60% |
| Essay | 40% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External