English (American Literature & Film) – (M.A.)

This MA (CKE27) will offer students advanced interdisciplinary study in American cultural representations. Students will explore a wide range of film, literature and related texts from the nineteenth century intellectual foundations to contemporary representations of American culture. Close analyses of the texts and their social, cultural and theoretical contexts will provide insights into the ways in which America has been represented in novels, poetry, drama, art and film.

Topic areas may include:
- the Depression in literature, poetry, theatre, music and film
- Black cinema of the 1930s
- Images of World War II and the Cold War
- The South
- Contemporary American writing
- Issues of gender, race and ethnicity
- 1920s America in black and white; contemporary American fiction; postmodern American drama

Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this programme, students should be able to:

* Critically read/view the set texts;
* Discuss the cultural contexts and traditions from which the texts emerge;
* Carry out research in order to seek out further information in the field of American film and literature;
* Actively participate in class discussions and defend critical judgements against the informed opinions of others;
* Write clearly-structured, critical and analytical essays in correct standard English within the fields of American literature and film;
* Pursue and manage a larger-scale research and writing project, developed through clear and recordable processes of enquiry and selection and through the composition of a dissertation;
* Write about a specific field of study in a coherent and well-structured way;
* Utilize advanced critical, theoretical, and methodological concepts in the presentation of their research;
* Contribute to existing critical, theoretical and methodological debates within a specified field of study.