Academic Year/course:
2023/24
416 - Degree in English
27853 - American Contemporary Literature
Syllabus Information
Academic year:
2023/24
Subject:
27853 - American Contemporary Literature
Faculty / School:
103 - Facultad de Filosofía y Letras
Degree:
416 - Degree in English
ECTS:
6.0
Year:
4 and 3
Semester:
Second semester
Subject type:
Optional
Module:
---
1. General information
The main objective of this course is to provide students with specialized knowledge about contemporary North American narrative and enhance their understanding and proficiency in the tools required for its analysis. Additionally, special emphasis will be placed on the role that contemporary novels play in understanding the current political and cultural landscape, establishing connections and parallels with prevalent values, social issues, and ideologies in both Western and globalized societies.
These approaches and objectives are aligned with the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations' 2030 Agenda (https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/): SDG 4, 5, 10, 13, 16, 17. Therefore, the acquisition of the learning outcomes in this course provides training and competence to contribute to some extent to their achievement.
2. Learning results
In order to pass this subject, the student must accomplish the following learning goals:
• Define the different periods that structure North American literature from postmodernism to the present.
• Name and chronologically situate the main authors, texts, genres, and literary trends of the period.
• Explain the connection of each text and author with their specific historical-literary context and with the current moment.
• Analyze the compulsory texts included in the course syllabus, paying attention to both form and content, correctly applying the techniques of close reading and the studied theoretical frameworks.
• Compare the formal and content aspects of the different texts in the syllabus in order to enhance the ability to transmit and explain knowledge.
• Generate hypotheses on specific topics related to the contents and works of the program.
• Handle bibliographic sources to obtain additional information on topics related to the program, selecting the most relevant ones among those available, and properly indicating the consulted sources.
• Assess the relevance of each of the texts and authors included in the syllabus for the understanding of North American literature and, more broadly, the cultural history of the United States and the current global context.
• Synthesize the most relevant characteristics of North American literature since the beginning of postmodernism, while also increasing the capacity to continuously use and update computer tools and new technologies.
• Use the English language with a higher degree of accuracy, both orally and in writing, applying all the above at a C1.1 level of the CEFR.
3. Syllabus
1. The intersections of race and gender in US ethnic literatures
- Methodological introduction.
- African American racism, shame and trauma: Toni Morrison’s “Sweetness.”
- Native American resurgence against sexist colonial violations: Louise Erdrich’s The Round House.
2. Posthuman ethics and the female body.
- Transhumanism vs. Critical Posthumanism.
- Embodiment in Jenefer Shute’s Life-Size.
- Speculative Fiction and Divergent Corporeality in Larissa Lai’s Salt Fish Girl.
3. Literature in the 21st Century.
- Transhumanism and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
- Dystopian Fiction: Technological-Dependence in Don DeLillo’s The Silence.
- The Future of Literature: Jennifer Egan’s “Great Rock and Roll Pauses” and “Black Box”.
4. Academic activities
1. Directed activities
-Theoretical classes: Introduction to the historical and cultural context of the literary period covered in the syllabus; presentation of the main characteristics of literary creation in recent years (both formal and in content); introduction to the works that will be analyzed in practical classes; explanation of the necessary critical and methodological concepts and approaches for text analysis.
-Practical classes: Critical analysis of the compulsory literary texts.
2. Supervised activities
-Individual or group tutorials.
3. Autonomous activities
-Required readings, bibliographic work, participation/consultation on the Moodle-unizar page.
-Preparation of individual essays.
4. Assessment
5. Assessment system
1st CALL
CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT
Completion of a written exam for each part of the course, consisting in a short question (40%) and an essay (60%). Participation and attendance of at least 80% of the classes is required.
GLOBAL ASSESSMENT
Completion, on the date specified in the academic calendar, of an exam divided into three parts, each of which will consist of a short question (40%) and an essay question (60%), relating to the texts and contents of the corresponding unit.
Failing to achieve a minimum of 4.5 out of 10 points in either part will result in a failing grade. The average score of the exams must reach 5.0 points to pass the course.
2nd CALL
GLOBAL ASSESSMENT
In general terms, the evaluation of assessments is determined by the following criteria: knowledge of the subject matter, effective development of argumentation, ability to analyze texts in depth considering both form and content while demonstrating knowledge of methodologies and theoretical frameworks, and appropriate expression in English at a C1.1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).