Module ENGL2581: LITERATURE AND TERRORISM (SPECIAL TOPIC)

Department: English Studies

ENGL2581: LITERATURE AND TERRORISM (SPECIAL TOPIC)

Prerequisites

• Any Single or Joint Honours finalist student wishing to take this Special Topic must have satisfactorily completed the required number of core modules. Combined Honours and Outside Honours students must have satisfactorily completed either two Level 1 core introductory modules, or at least one Level 1 core module and one further lecture based module in English at Level 2.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• This module aims to explore the long-standing relationship between literary (and some visual) texts and various forms of terrorism — anarchism and radical leftism, Irish nationalism, Islamic fundamentalism, ‘State’ terrorism and so on.
• It is designed to encourage students to analyse in detail how fictional texts represent, support and subvert the politics of terror and, in a broader sense, to reflect in a properly critical fashion on the intersection between the political and the aesthetic. Whilst representations of terrorism and trauma abound in contemporary culture, from the literary novel to the Hollywood movie, little attention is paid to the deeper formations in public and private life which structure such representations or to the historical ties between culture and terrorism that have exerted a formative influence on the (post)modern imagination. The module therefore provides students with the opportunity to study the complex forces behind the representation of terrorism through a series of focused historical “snap-shots”. This is intended to foster a sensitivity to the unique socio-political conditions that inform the interpretation of a given text but also to engage students with a set of wider theoretical questions running backwards and forwards through historical time.
• In addition, by including British, American, Irish and ‘World’ literatures, the module provides students with the opportunity to exercise the analytical skills acquired via core modules and existing special topics in a comparative framework.

Content

• The module will be organised in chronological sequence (or, more accurately, in a series of historical “clusters”) from the fin de siècle to the present day. Special attention will be given to the following questions: How has the notion of terrorism been shaped by textual production over historical time? What social, political and religious factors dictate the evolving relationship between text and terror? Can a text be understood as “terroristic” in itself? And can a terrorist ever be described as a kind of “author” or “interpreter” of culture? What are the aesthetics of terrorism? Why do fantasies of terrorism and terroristic destruction have such a hold on the literary imagination and what historical and/or psychoanalytic forces might account for this? In what ways does the representation of terrorism reinscribe and undermine categories such as the public and the private, State and individual, body and spirit? How can “trauma” and “shock” (as direct correlates of terrorism) inform our critical understanding of literature? In the light of terrorist action, how does literature help to clarify or problematise the distinction between “legality” and “legitimacy”? With these issues in mind, the module will also consider and historicize the ways in which the fictional representation of terrorism contributes to ongoing debates about multiculturalism, immigration, political violence and the limits of liberal democracy. By plotting a course from the beginnings of the 20th century to the contemporary moment, the module presents students with a provisional but dynamic sense of a “geo-political aesthetic” (to borrow Fredric Jameson’s phrase). Texts will typically range from novels by James, Chesterton and Conrad to recent works by Updike, Rushdie, Pamuk, Hamid, DeLillo, Carson or Sacco. Students will also be expected to engage with a range of secondary materials appropriate to the specific topic under scrutiny (ranging from anarchist manifestoes to recent critical theory by Žižek, Gray and Negri, for example).

Learning Outcomes

• Students are expected to develop a broad but sophisticated knowledge of the relationship between terrorism and literary creativity within the frameworks of modernity and postmodernity.
• They will acquire a detailed understanding of the critical debates surrounding this relationship and a sound appreciation of the specific historical factors which determine it.
• Students will become aware of how terrorism has actively contributed to the development of particular literary forms (and vice versa).

• Students will expand and fine-tune their critical skills in the close analysis of a diverse range of literary texts.
• Students will acquire a more acute sensitivity to the sometimes unstable generic classification of literary texts by comparing poetry, short stories and novels — both popular and avant-garde — and learn how to interrogate such distinctions.
• Students will develop an informed understanding of the connections, relays and breaks that exist between the aesthetic and the political spheres. They will offer carefully reasoned and imaginative responses to the questions posed by this.

• Students will develop their ability to process and evaluate contextual information as well as complex theoretical arguments. Moreover, the structure of the course actively encourages students to pursue independent lines of inquiry and research. The ability to use electronic resources and other media efficiently will be fully tested and developed by a module of this nature, as will standard academic skills such as word-processing, time-management and bibliographical organisation.

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

• Seminars will encourage students to discuss their ideas in an open and “interactive” peer environment as well as providing a formal opportunity to hone close reading skills and detailed, methodical analysis.
• Presentations will help to develop communicative skills, independent and /or collaborative research, planning and data management.
• Consultation with the module leader before the first summative essay will ensure that subject-specific knowledge is developed in an effective and structured fashion.
• Assessed essays will also facilitate independent study and research, allowing students to enhance both their subject-specific knowledge and subject skills. By exploring the existing body of criticism appropriate to their chosen topic, students will bolster both their imaginative and analytical capabilities.
• Written feedback on the first essay will allow students to carefully reflect on how the form, scope and level of insight of their work can be improved and how their subject-specific knowledge can be deepened.
• Typically, directed learning may include assigning student(s) an issue, theme or topic that can be independently or collectively explored within a framework and/or with additional materials provided by the tutor. This may function as preparatory work for presenting their ideas or findings (sometimes electronically) to their peers and tutor in the context of a seminar.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Before the first essay, students will have an individual consultation session in which they are entitled to show their seminar leader a list of points relevant to the essay and receive oral comment on these points. Students may also, if they wish, discuss their ideas for the second essay at this meeting.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University