Module THEO55130: Literature and Religion

Department: Theology and Religion

THEO55130: Literature and Religion

Pre-requisites

Corequisites

Excluded Combinations

Aims

Content

• Iris Murdoch articulated an increasingly commonly held view when she argued that literature, over the past two centuries, has tended to take over the philosophical, ethical and even in some contexts the spiritual work of religion. This module, which takes the form of fortnightly seminars, explores the work of a range of influential writers, from the post-Romantic to post-Modern periods, from a theological and critical perspective. Attention and debate in seminars is focused on key texts, whether fiction or poetry, which reflect arguably central preoccupations of the writer under consideration.
• The module is in two parts, corresponding to the first two terms of the academic year. Part One moves through the historical and cultural perspectives offered by several major writers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Michaelmas Term sessions will focus on the Bront??s, Matthew Arnold, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and finally the very different responses to the post-Christian world in the work of D.H. Lawrence and T.S. Eliot. Part Two aims to engage with writers on whom there is much less critical and academic work available, encouraging students to build up their own critical confidence in writing and thinking. There will be five sessions in the second part of the course, normally taking place at fortnightly intervals during the Epiphany Term.
• Past sessions have included Elizabeth Jennings, Stevie Smith, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, R.S. Thomas, Salman Rushdie, Kazue Ishiguro, William Golding, Toni Morrison and Iris Murdoch. The interests of the group will be discussed during the early part of the course, to enable final decisions to be made relating to the choice of writers for the final part of the module.

Learning Outcomes

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment

One 5000 word essay