British Narrative: Pre-modern and Contemporary - MA Seminar 1 3301-LBS1KOW03
The principal aim of this seminar is to deepen participants’ knowledge about narrative and to enable them to use narratological concepts in analysis of selected texts and phenomena. On the margins, reflection will be conducted on specifics of British narrative. Particular emphasis may be put on relations between, on the one hand, legends, myths, and stories from pre-modern Britain and, on the other hand, contemporary literature, but it is possible to devote one’s M. A. project exclusively to broadly understood modern literature unrelated to pre-modern traditions.
Participants will be able to choose for analysis relatable texts by well known and liked or less known authors. The research methods and direction as well as tools of analysis will be determined with the aid of the seminar teacher. Research projects can focus on topics in such major areas of interest as, for instance, narrative strategies in selected texts, character portrayal, strange or queer characters, untypical narrators, male, female, or man-woman bonding, building of other worlds, reworking conventional plot patterns, storytelling techniques in children’s and YA literature, old-time narrative genres in modern prose fiction, metaphysical problems in literature, detective fiction, and many other aspects of transmedial narrative, depending on each participant's fancy and research invention.
Type of course
Learning outcomes
Knowledge: the graduate will be able to
K_W04 Characterize on an advanced level the principles of research design in literary and culture studies with special focus on the application of methods and tools in formulating research problems in narrative studies
K_W05 Identify the notions and principles pertinent to intellectual property and copyright, particularly pertaining to writing an M. A. thesis
K_W06 Characterize economic, legal and other factors relevant for various kinds of professional activities related to the study programme and the problems covered by the M. A. seminar
Abilities: the graduate is able to
K_U01 Apply advanced narratological terminology and notions pertinent to the discipline (linguistics, literary studies, culture and religion studies) in the area of narratology
K_U02 Apply advanced research methodology within literary and culture studies and English studies, respecting ethical norms and copyright law, in the area of narrative studies
K_U03 Apply knowledge obtained during the course of studies to account for and solve a problem, thereby completing a research task related to the discipline literary studies and/or culture and religion studies in the scope of the M. A. seminar
K_U04 Analyze linguistic, literary and cultural phenomena in British narrative texts and draw generalizations on their basis in the context of societal, historical and economic factors on an advanced level
K_U06 Find information in various sources and critically assess its usefulness for research related to the topic of the MA project in the area of British narrative studies
K_U07 Use modern technology in the process of learning about British narrative past and/or present and communicating with academic teachers, colleagues, representatives of various institutions and fellow participants in classes and projects, applying various channels and techniques of communication
K_U11 Design one’s own development with the possibility of implementing knowledge about narrative communication
Social competences: the graduate is ready to
K_K02 Apply knowledge and skills obtained during the course of studies and particularly during the M. A. seminar to undertake lifelong learning, as well as personal and professional development
Assessment criteria
Students present an outline of the MA thesis, which includes a list of topics to be covered and a preliminary bibliography.
Three absences are allowed.
Bibliography
A selection (partly individualized) of a few texts from the following list (additional texts depending on need):
D. Herman (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Narrative (Cambridge UP, 2009).
J. Phelan & P. J. Rabinowitz, A Companion to Narrative Theory (Blackwell, 2005).
M. Mcquillan, The Narrative Reader (Routledge, 2000).
P. Cobley, Narrative (Routledge, 2014).
S. Rimmon-Kenan, Narrative Fiction (Routledge, 2005).
T. Bronwen, Narrative: The Basics (Routledge, 2016).
M.-L. Ryan & J.-N. Thon, Storyworlds across Media (U of Nebraska P, 2014).
V. Propp, Morphology of the Folktale (U of Texas P, 2009).
J. Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (2004).
H. Fulton (ed.), A Companion to Arthurian Literature (Blackwell, 2009).
T. Davenport, Medieval Narrative: An Introduction (Oxford UP, 2004).
H. Cooper, The English Romance in Time (Oxford UP, 2004).
N. Cartlidge (ed.), Heroes and Anti-heroes in Medieval Romance (Brewer, 2012).
S. Knight, Crime Fiction, 1800-2000 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004).
C. A. Malcolm, D. Malcom (eds.), A Companion to the British and Irish Short Story (Wiley-Blackwell, 2008).
B. Kowalik (ed.),‘O, What a Tangled Web’: Tolkien and Medieval Literature. A View from Poland (Walking Tree Publishers, 2013).
B. Kowalik, „Foreignness in Katherine Mansfield’s 'Bliss' and Other Stories” (Peter Lang, 2015), 75-89.
B. Kowalik, "Gardens in G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown Stories" (Anglica, 2015).
B. Kowalik, “Who painted the mouse and who the vixen? Female animals in fables by Robert Henryson and Biernat of Lublin” (Peter Lang, 2012), 279-294.
B. Kowalik, „J. R. R. Tolkien’s Portrayal of Gandalf and the Medieval Legend of the Noble Pagan” (Verlag Trier, 2020), 179-198.
B. Kowalik, “Tolkien’s Use of the Motif of Goldsmith-Craft and the Middle English ‘Pearl’: Ring or Hand?” (Walking Tree Publishers, 2020), 40-71.
B. Kowalik, „Mit skarbu według J. R. R. Tolkiena w świetle jego przekładu 'Beowulfa'”, Acta Neophilologica (UWM) XVIII/1 (2016): 97-110.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: