MA English Literature

Specialist areas of staff expertise include:

• 21st Century literature
• Postcolonial studies
• Contemporary politics
• Renaissance literature and drama
• Utopian studies
• Women’s writing (18th Century – present)
• Life writing
• American literature
• Creative writing
• Ecocriticism
• Gothic studies
• 18th and 19th Century literature

The MA English Literature program links to the University of Lincoln’s 21st Century Research Group. Kristian Shaw is the research lead for this network and regularly invites external speakers to present on a range of interdisciplinary topics relevant to further study.

Contemporary Approaches to Literature (Core)

This introductory core module supports students to identify and understand the key themes, debates, and critical approaches currently being explored in contemporary literary studies. It will examine how genres, concepts, and themes transcend particular historical periods and disciplines stretching from the Medieval period to the twenty-first century. Students can develop a critical understanding of literary theory, including the status and practices of the discipline itself. Themes addressed in the module may include: Gender and Representation; Ecocriticism; Politics and Resistance; Medievalisms.

Contemporary American Fiction (Option)

This module offers an opportunity to engage with American fiction and some of its socio-historical, political, and ideological contexts from the late 1990s to the present day. The module will be contextualized by an examination of the Great American Novel in the run-up to the millennium, considering the importance of the short story in American fiction, and exploring the impact of recent key events. The module will take a thematic approach, locating American cultural production in regional, national, and global contexts, with a particular emphasis on writing in the 21st Century. Authors studied may include Marilynne Robinson, Dave Eggers, David Foster Wallace, George Saunders, Jesmyn Ward and Colson Whitehead.

Gothic Spaces (Option)

This module explores the representation of haunted locations in the human experience of environments that provoke, or symbolize, psychological and social disturbances.

The place has always had central significance in the Gothic genre, the literature of Nightmare, which is dominated by desolate landscapes, and claustrophobic interiors. Gothic texts of all periods and cultural contexts use the place as a trope through which to focalize themes of alienation, repression, monstrosity, and mental fragmentation. These locations work as spatial metaphors, giving form to the fear, violence, and ideological contradictions which haunt the realms which we would prefer to regard as familiar and safe settings for our lives.

This module considers an exciting range of texts (including novels, short stories, and films), from the Victorian era to the present day. We consider the way the Gothic genre dramatizes anxieties that center on the home, the city, the railway, the colony/ex-colony, and the frontier. Issues considered through the study of these include childhood, gender relations, urbanization, technology, mental illness, the sublime, constructions of race, imperialism, and the phenomenon of Gothic tourism with a focus on Lincoln itself.

Literature, Ecology, and the Post-Human (Option)†

One of the subjects that literature documents is the relationship of humanity to its environment. In this module, we look at literary representations of that relationship from 'ecocritical' and 'post-humanist' perspectives. The first principle of ecological and post-humanist thinking is that other things exist beside humans and that we are neither so separate from, nor so dominant over, the non-human as Christian and post-Christian Humanism has taught us to think. Since the Enlightenment, much human thought has assumed control of the non-human and has increasingly had only human interests in mind; this tendency has if anything been intensified by the theoretical revolution which has otherwise been so critical of Enlightenment thinking. Through reading ecocritical and post-humanist theory alongside primary texts, this module challenges such anthropocentric ways of thinking, which have brought us to our current ecological crisis. We study literature as an exploration and expression of our complex interaction with our environment, from the non-human to the inorganic. Our subject matter will be not just 'nature writing', but also texts in various forms and media, from the ancient to the contemporary, that look very different when viewed without Humanist presuppositions. Overall, this module offers an introduction to developments in literary criticism in the late twentieth- and twenty-first centuries and challenges students to think about their own relationships with the surrounding world.

Print Culture and the Book in the Nineteenth Century (Option)†

This module centers on the history of the book and print culture over the long nineteenth century. Examining print from social, cultural, and economic standpoints, the module considers a number of key questions. How were Victorian texts written, revised, illustrated, published, printed, distributed, and sold? How were they read, and what evidence do we have to prove this? How did copyright debates over the century affect literary productions and the way authors thought about these productions? What was the impact of serialization and the periodical press on both the publishing industry and the reader or consumer? What place did the book-as-object have within the Victorian material culture? How do Victorian texts themselves depict reading, writing, and the book? How does reading texts alongside images qualify for reading and interpretation?

The module takes a synoptic approach to printed materials, including but not limited to books, periodicals, newspapers, illustrations, and printed ephemera. The module also provides opportunities to use the extensive and unique resources of the Tennyson Research Centre, and facilities such as the conservation labs to explore microscopy and related techniques. Furthermore, use will be made of online resources such as Victorian periodical facsimiles.

Robin Hood and the Outlaw Tradition (Option)†

This module examines what the figure of the outlaw meant to the people of Britain in the Middle Ages, especially in the post-Conquest period, as well as how he was, and still is, connected to history and myth in literature. Students will consider the glorification of crime associated with outlaw narratives and the resistance of primarily clerical and state authority, as well as the underlying issues of friendship and loyalty that these narratives evoke. They will also examine other themes prevalent in outlaw legends, such as nature, human and animal relations, gender, religion, tricksters and trickery, class, warfare, and weaponry. Finally, it assesses how outlawry and outlaw figures (especially Robin Hood) have been transmitted, as a type of medievalism, to later periods and what the outlaw figure means in contemporary society. Overall, students will examine representations of outlaws in a range of genres, from chronicles, ballads, and dramatic texts to children's literature, film, and television.

Romantic Legacies (Option)†

This module aims to explore some of the poetic and artistic riches of the era 1800 to 1870, in relation to political, social, and artistic contexts. Romanticism established terms for exploring the self, representing nature, extolling feeling and imagination, and using poetry in the cause of social reform.

This legacy Victorian writers inherited, revised, and tested to its limits. Poets both withdrew from, and engaged with society, offering new constructions of class relations, gender roles, and religious faith, and debated the role of the poet in modern society. While the emphasis of the module is on literature, it will also consider elements of art history that shared these preoccupations. Artists also reimagined the landscape, social relations, subjective/objective reality, and the role of the artist in the modern world.

Works of well-known poets such as William Wordsworth, Robert Browning, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning are read alongside those with a less established critical tradition, such as John Clare, Ernest Jones, and Augusta Webster. We also consider landscape artists such as Peter de Wint and John Constable, and the works of pre-Raphaelite artists responding to poetry by John Keats and Alfred Tennyson. Trips are offered to the Usher Gallery in Lincoln, the Clare Centre at Helpston, and/or a relevant national exhibition.

The Nineteenth-Century Novel (Option)†

In the nineteenth century, the novel reached maturity as a form and, arguably, its zenith. This module addresses some of the riches of fiction of this era in which we encounter the roots of our own modernity. Writers turned to the novel to explore pressing social and philosophical concerns in the wake of radical cultural change and a newly empowered bourgeoisie.

Whether they present panoramas of community or focus on the trials and triumphs of a single protagonist, nineteenth-century novels explore the pains and pleasures of the individual attempting to find belonging in an often alienating environment.

While realism is the dominant mode, other generic influences include Gothic, naturalism, expressionism, and satire, and texts include historical fiction as well as those set in the contemporaneous moment. The module takes an international approach, including examples from North America as well as British classics, and potential works (in translation) from non-anglophone settings including Russia, France, and Scandinavia.

Women Writing the 21st Century (Option)†

This module aims to explore some of the extraordinarily exciting, diverse, and abundant range of short stories, novels, life writing, drama, performance, and poetry produced by women in the 21st Century.

The module begins firstly with the consideration of the contemporary revival of feminist theory and politics and attempts to think through the variety of ways in which feminism is meaningful in a post-millennial context. Secondly, the module will attempt to trace and examine ways in which women writers engage with and represent the 21st Century, specifically their negotiation of personal identity, motherhood, aging, sex, and sexuality, as well as local/ global politics, war, race, class, religion, region, and nation. Thirdly, you can study ways in which contemporary women's writing utilizes, negotiates, and challenges traditions of literary and dramatic form to find new and radical ways of writing the 21st Century.

Writing Utopia and Dystopia (Option)†

Dreaming of a better life and a better world has been part of the human condition for all of human history, but utopian fiction as a separate and distinct genre is identified with Thomas Mores's 1516 text, Utopia, which coins the word utopia and is thus often regarded as the foundational utopian text. In this module, we identify key features and characteristics of the literary utopia and trace the development of the genre through the twentieth- and twenty-first centuries. The module begins by addressing the classic dystopic texts of the early twentieth century and considering ways in which utopian theory has become the principal vehicle for social and political theory in contemporary fiction. We then reframe some of the ideas explored in the first section of the module by examining the development of the genre in the twenty-first century, discussing contemporary developments such as digital technology, biotechnology, ecofeminism, and global humanitarian crises. Authors studied may include: William Morris, Kazuo Ishiguro, Marge Piercy, George Orwell, David Mitchell, and Bernardine Evaristo.

How You Study

The MA consists of 2-hour seminars which run from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm. All teaching is conducted on Wednesdays to allow students to fulfill other commitments.

A series of MA Skills and Careers sessions also run on Wednesdays. These sessions address potential career routes following completion of the MA and also provide a pathway to Ph.D. study.

How You Are Assessed

The MA English Literature program features a range of diverse assessment methods including essays, annotated bibliographies, and the presentation of independent research at the Wren Library in Lincoln Cathedral.

The University of Lincoln's policy on assessment feedback aims to ensure that academics will return in-course assessments to you promptly - usually within 15 working days after the submission date.

How You Study

A series of MA Skills and Careers sessions also run on Wednesdays. These sessions address potential career routes following completion of the MA and also provide a pathway to PhD study.

Students on this course may also have the opportunity to participate in symposia at the Wren library in Lincoln Cathedral, where they can present papers based on their research to current students and staff. Presenting 20-minute papers in panels in a conference-style setting enables students to develop their research skills, preparing them for PhD study and other professional work.

This course is designed to develop strong communication and critical-thinking skills which can be transferable to a diverse range of careers. The programme aims to provide training for roles in journalism, teaching, research, publishing, and media. Students are able to develop skills in research, communication, writing, presentation, and independent learning. Some graduates choose to continue their studies at doctoral level.

The University Careers and Employability Team offer qualified advisors who can work with you to provide tailored, individual support and careers advice during your time at the University. As a member of our alumni we also offer one-to-one support in the first year after completing your course, including access to events, vacancy information and website resources; with access to online vacancies and virtual and website resources for the following two years.

This service can include one-to-one coaching, CV advice and interview preparation to help you maximise your future opportunities. The service works closely with local, national and international employers, acting as a gateway to the business world.

The MA consists of 2-hour seminars which run from 10:00am - 12:00pm and 2:00pm - 4:00pm. All teaching is conducted on Wednesdays to allow students to fulfil other commitments.