Dag 1

Väskan är i princip färdigpackad och klar. Jag trodde faktiskt att det skulle bli mer saker och att jag skulle behöva stå och välja mellan vad man skulle ta med och inte, men det visade sig att jag hade flera kilon till godo. Detso bättre för a och y som får plundra min garderob när jag har åkt... Men det är rätt skönt ändå att inte åka med Ryanair som jag brukar, med tanke på bagagerestriktionerna - men Heathrow är å andra sidan rätt läskigt, det är så stort! Som tur är så har universitetet en Meet & Greet grupp som kommer och möter mig och skjutsar mig till campus, bra hyggligt av dem.


Så nu blir det två dagar med kompishäng och det sista att fixa innan jag åker. Bäst att inte tänka för mycket på det, jag kommer ändå att sitta och älta det i tre timmar på flyget sen, så varför tänka på det nu?


Där här är kurserna jag ska läsa i alla fall, de verkar jättespännande allhop, men samtidigt lite läskiga, man har ju ingen aning om vad man ska förvänta sig, eller vad som förväntas av en. Det är väl bara att göra sitt bästa, man kan väl inte begära mer än det, eller hur?


Myth and sacred narrative: ideas ideologies and interpretations

This module will examine the nature and function of myth by looking at a variety of themes and topics within myth and sacred narrative. It will begin by asking 'what is myth' and explore the idea that myths are not merely stories, but rather represent ideas and ideologies in narrative form. It will then look at different ways of interpreting myth; looking in particular at Freudian, sociological and stucturalist methods for uncovering different levels of meaning in the narrative. In the process, students will have the opportunity to read and work with a number of myths and sacred narratives from a variety of sources. These will include the Genesis narrative; classical Greek myths such as Odysseus and the Cyclops, Prometheus and Pandora, Perseus and Medusa; flood myths from the Hebrew Bible, Mesopotamia and India; European folktales and their represenation in contemporary popular culture.


Postmodern plunder: rewriting classic narratives

Some of the most significant and symptomatic achievements of modern fiction have taken place in the sphere of what might be termed the postmodern ‘rewriting’ or revisiting of classic narratives. In an age in which ‘originality’ has been redefined as the skilful use of intertextuality, and in which the idea of the author has been challenged by the notions of the ‘author-function’ and the ‘death of the author’, this course presents the opportunity to focus on a literary genre in which the impact of postmodern methodology has yielded particularly conspicuous results: the transformation and modernisation of canonical classics. Although conventional literary terms are inadequate to describe the generic character of these texts, the course will begin with a discussion of the conventions and theoretical premises of imitation, pastiche and parody, but will move beyond these parameters to consider the extent to which postmodern rewritings confirm, subvert and transform prevailing concepts about the literary canon, narrative form, and the whole question of literary authority within modern culture. Finally, the course will consider whether it is in the nature of ‘foundational’ narratives, beginning with Homer’s The Odyssey, to generate literary progeny which, in Oedipal fashion, are both a challenge and testimony to the power of their originator.

Later Victorian literature

The apparent certainties of the mid-Victorian period often gave way to anxieties about such issues as gender, class, identity, the role of women. These will be examined in a range of texts by, for example, Charlotte Bronte, Alfred Tennyson and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. A focus of the module will be on autobiography, concentrating on the construction of individual identity in both poetry and the novel. Other issues to be considered may include women's writing, sensation fiction and the connections between literature and history.