Module overview
What is the literary and cultural value of fiction written purely to entertain and titillate audiences? In this module, we will use digital methods to explore how we understand and relate to mass market fiction. Using different digital methods and tools, we will critique and create narratives that draw on tropes and themes in popular fiction. Over the course of the semester, we will use a range of disciplinary perspectives on reading, taste, and audiences to interrogate the transformative roles of digital technologies and digital culture(s) on reading and readership.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Work independently and collaboratively towards specific project aims.
- Identify, discuss, and use digital methods and tools to study texts.
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- The roles popular fiction play in shaping understandings of gender, literacy, and taste.
- The ways technology transform the consumption of popular fiction.
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Select and use appropriate theories and concepts to analyse literary genres.
- Use themes, theories and critical standpoints to analyse popular literature.
Syllabus
Indicative topics include:
Interdisciplinary approaches to studying literary genres and readers
Digital approaches to audience engagement and reader analytics
Digital methods for writing and reading popular fiction
Serialisation in a digital age: Mass production and technology
More than books: Franchises and adaptations
Curating taste: Platforms, hashtags, likes and reviews
Cultivating readers: Popular fiction and literacy
Social networks and online communities: Fans and Fanfiction
Out of the digital closet: Queering popular fiction
Diversifying popular fiction
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
Teaching methods
- Seminars
Learning activities
- Independent study, including reading and writing
- Group discussion
- Peer appraisal
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Seminar | 36 |
| Independent Study | 114 |
| Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
Textbooks
Radway, J. A. (2009). Reading the romance: Women, patriarchy, and popular literature.. Univ of North Carolina Press..
Hayles, N. K., & Pressman, J. (2013). Comparative textual media: Transforming the humanities in the postprint era.. U of Minnesota Press..
Jenkins, H. (2012). Textual poachers: Television fans and participatory culture.. Routledge..
Johns, A. . (2019). Piracy: The intellectual property wars from Gutenberg to Gates.. University of Chicago Press..
Kelley, B. (2021). Loving fanfiction: exploring the role of emotion in online fandoms.. Routledge..
Bode, K. (2008). Damaged men desiring women: Male bodies in contemporary Australian women's fiction..
Assessment
Assessment strategy
Students will complete two assessments during the course of the semester. These assessments will help them prepare a digital project, which they will analyse and critique in their third (final) assessment.
Multiple assessments will ensure students iteratively receive feedback on their project work, have opportunities to develop digital methods and skills, and receive support to manage group work.
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Group Assessment | 10% |
| Group Assessment | 10% |
| Portfolio of Learning | 80% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Assessment | 100% |
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 |
|---|---|
| Assessment tasks | 100% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal