Contents

Courses of the Programme

Contemporary Irish Fiction 7.5 ECTS
The course aims at developing an in-depth knowledge of representative works in the genre of contemporary Irish fiction, by analysing, reflecting upon, evaluating and applying literary terms and theories in the context of contemporary Irish fiction. A number of texts are read from the viewpoint of different schools of literary theory, such as poststructuralism and psychoanalytic theory. Besides being introduced to theoretical texts, students will study a number of critical articles dealing directly with the texts studied on the course.

The Body and Desire in Contemporary Irish Poetry 7.5 ECTS
The course aims to deepen the students´ knowledge of representative works of contemporary Irish poetry, by analysing, reflecting upon, evaluating, and applying literary theories and relating these theories to the concepts of the body and desire. The course consists of a study of contemporary Irish poetry from a theoretical point of view. The representations of the body and desire in literary works are studied from a variety of modern and postmodern theoretical perspectives, such as feminism, psychoanalysis, political, existential and ethical theory and criticism. Besides being introduced to theoretical texts, students will also study a number of critical articles dealing directly with the poetry studied on the course.

Ireland in Film and Drama 7.5 ECTS
The course aims at developing the students´ understanding of representative works in the genres of contemporary Irish film and drama by analysing, reflecting upon, evaluating, and applying literary terms and theories in the context of contemporary Irish film and drama. The works are studied from a variety of theoretical perspectives, such as postmodernism, postcolonialism and film theory. Besides introducing students to theoretical texts, they will also study a number of critical articles dealing directly with the drama and films studied on the course.

Literature and Theory 7.5 ECTS
This course is aimed at students who have not earlier studied the basic course in literary theory at undergraduate level - which is a prerequisite for the Advanced Literary Theory course during the second semester. The course aims at introducing the student to basic literary and cultural criticism and theory, and providing a practical knowledge of the main developments within the discipline from liberal humanism to ecocriticism. The course includes practical exercises in the writing of literary criticism from a number of literary and cultural schools of criticism.

Scholarly Writing in Literary Theory and Criticism 7.5 ECTS
This course is studied during the first semester of the programme and aims at preparing the student for writing the Degree Thesis by developing knowledge and skills in literary criticism and scholarly writing. During the course the student will write a process-oriented essay on a well-defined literary problem.

Advanced Literary Theory 7.5 ECTS
This course is taken during the first half of the second semester of the programme and aims at further developing the student´s knowledge in contemporary literary theory. In contrast to the earlier Literature and Theory course studied, the students taking this course are confronted with extracts from theoretical, original texts (in English translation) which they interpret and discuss. The students then apply these theories to a limited number of literary texts in order to further develop their critical thinking and theoretical awareness, both orally and in writing. In this way the course acts as a scholarly base and source of inspiration for the thesis work.

Degree Thesis 15 ECTS credits
The programme ends with an individual thesis project which enables students to reach the goals of the programme. Students deepen their knowledge within an area of Irish Literature by independently planning and carrying out a well-defined research task which contributes new knowledge to the field. The work is carried out as a writing process where students present and discuss their work with the supervisor and with their fellow students. The work is presented in the form of a scholarly essay which follows appropriate critical praxis for acknowledgment and documentation of sources.