English Literature II

Code:

MEAAM014

Acronym:

LI2

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	English Literature

Instance: 2025/2026 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Anglo-American Studies
Course/CS Responsible:	Masters in Anglo-American Studies

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MEAA	10	MEAA - Study Plan	1	-	9	60	243

Teaching language

English

Objectives

Modernity and its wake: readings in 20^th and 21^st century literature and poetics

This course probes the roots of contemporary literary cultures by interrogating key developments in the literary production and critical writing of the past century. The programme will highlight continuities and departures in the delineation of tenets and assumptions that have legitimised an evolving understanding of the literary over the period. This overview of prevalent intellectual and critical attitudes will be combined with an attention to generic and modal diversity.

The programme will be organised in three modules, each consisting of five seminar sessions, in a total of forty-five teaching hours.

Learning outcomes and competences

By the end of the semester students are expected to have reached a sustained understanding of prevalent traits of the literary cultures of the British Isles over the past century, considered both in their formal lineaments and in their complex relationships to critical and contextual determinants.

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

n.a.

Program

Module 1 (Prof. Filomena Vasconcelos)

Modernist literary criticism

This first module of the programme will centre on modernist literary criticism, emphasizing both a more 'formalist' and 'practical' approach to literary texts, based on 'close-reading'. Students will be asked to read and be able to discuss a selection of critical essays by authors such as T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, I. A. Richards and William Empson

Primary sources:
Eliot, T. S. , Selected Essays. Faber and Faber, London, 1986.
Empson, William, Seven Types of Ambiguity. Chatto and Windus, London, 1973.
Pound, Ezra, Literary Essays of Ezra Pound. Ed. with and Introd. by T.S. Eliot. Faber and Faber, London, 1985.
Richards, I. A., Principles of Literary Criticism. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1987.

Module 2 (Prof. Rui Carvalho Homem)

The second module will address the theme ‘Location and dislocation in contemporary Irish poetry: beyond modernity’. It will focus on the output of three poets:

1. Relational poetics: self, canon and world in Paul Muldoon
2. Poetry and the city: Ciaran Carson, urban scenarios and prosodic challenges
3. Place, art and gender: Sinéad Morrissey

Primary sources:

Muldoon, Paul. Poems 1968-1998. London: Faber, 2001.
               Moy Sand and Gravel. London: Faber, 2002. 
               Horse Latitudes. London: Faber, 2006.
               Maggot. London: Faber, 2010. 
               One Thousand Things Worth Knowing. London:                     Faber, 2015.
Carson, Ciaran. Collected Poems. Loughcrew: Gallery, 2008.
                          On the Night Watch (2009)
                          Until Before After (2010)
Morrissey, Sinéad.
    There was Fire in Vancouver. Manchester: Carcanet, 1996
    Between Here and There. Manchester: Carcanet, 2002
    The State of the Prisons. Manchester: Carcanet, 2005
    Through the Square Window. Manchester: Carcanet, 2009
    Parallax. Manchester: Carcanet, 2013.
    On Balance. Manchester: Carcanet, 2017

 

Mandatory literature

Eliot T. S. 1888-1965; Selected essays. ISBN: 0-571-04792-0
Empson William; Seven types of ambiguity. ISBN: 7-011-0654-9
Pound Ezra 1885-1972; Literary essays of Ezra Pound. ISBN: 0-571-05705-5
Richards I. A.; Principles of literary criticism. ISBN: 0-7100-4605-7
Muldoon Paul; New selected poems 1968-1994. ISBN: 0-571-17784-0
Carson Ciaran; Collected Poems, Gallery, 2008
Morrissey Sinéad; Parallax, Carcanet, 2013

Teaching methods and learning activities

The course will be run on a seminar basis

keywords

Humanities > Literature > European literature > Germanic literature > English literature
Humanities > Literature > Literary criticism

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Participação presencial	35,00
Trabalho escrito	65,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Elaboração de relatório/dissertação/tese	78,00
Estudo autónomo	120,00
Frequência das aulas	45,00
Trabalho de investigação	0,00
Total:	243,00

Eligibility for exams

a) active participation in the seminars: 35%
b) final essay (3.000 to 3.500 words): 65%

Calculation formula of final grade

Weighted average of the results of the components mentioned above.

Examinations or Special Assignments

n/a

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

n/a

Classification improvement

n/a

Observations

English will be the course's working language.