On this module we will trace the representation of the city in a variety of modernist texts, including poetry, novels, short stories, films, visual art and theoretical writing, paying particular attention to the historical and cultural context of these texts. The rise of urban life had a huge effect on the literary and artistic movement of the first half of the twentieth century known as modernism, and on the construction of the twentieth-century subject. Indeed, modernity itself can be identified as having grown in concert with the dominance of the metropolis.

The mixture of fascination and revulsion with which modernist writers inhabited their cities is key to the texts we will look at on this course. We will identify this paradoxical sense of the city as a site of possibility, of chance collision and erotic encounter, but also as imbued with the fragmentary and alienating effects of urbanism – the city can be, as it was for James Joyce, ‘the centre of paralysis’. This module will investigate a wide range of modernist responses to the city: literary, artistic, theoretical and cinematic. 

• analyse a range of modernist texts critically, drawing associations between artistic, literary and cinematic texts and their theoretical, historical, cultural and social contexts 
• synthesise a range of critical material in order to make new and exciting conceptualisations of the works under discussion and their urban contexts 
• collaborate with peers in a supportive manner that encourages further independent learning
• evaluate, critically and attentively, their own and others’ academic writing 

This module will be delivered through a mixture of synchronous and asynchronous activities, as part of this programme’s blended provision, which will include on-campus and online teaching and support.

The precise mode of delivery and details – subject to Welsh Government and Public Health Wales guidance – of the teaching and support activities will be made available at the start of the semester via Learning Central.

Academic skills: This module will facilitate a wide range of skills, as students develop and enhance their ability to assimilate various critical approaches to a range of literary and cultural texts. The close analysis of texts will call for sensitivity to the use of language, as well as visual and historical awareness. Critical thinking, interdisciplinary skills, the successful integration of theoretical material into an analysis of a text, and the formulation of concise and effective argumentation will all be essential skills developed during this module.

Employability skills: these include the ability to synthesise information, participate in group-based discussion, to negotiate different and conflicting standpoints, to communicate ideas and to produce clear, informed arguments in a professional manner. Practising peer-feedback will develop a supportive learning community, improving both communication and editing skills.  

The methods of summative assessment for this module are detailed in the table below.

Formative work to be submitted before each summative assessment: you can choose between submitting, as appropriate, an essay plan/structure, synopses of essay topic options (if undecided) or sample paragraph/s; for creative assignments, you can submit working drafts of parts of your composition, as arranged with the workshop convenor.

THE OPPORTUNITY FOR REASSESSMENT IN THIS MODULE:
As with School policy, failed or unsubmitted assessments can be retaken during the August resit period.

Indicative Syllabus:

Themes for study will include but are not limited to:

• Walking in the city
• Alienation in the city 
• Modernist aesthetics
• Cinematic modernity
• Writing (of) the city