This module is not currently running in 2024 to 2025.
What is the relationship between 'animal' and ‘human’, and how is this explored through writing? This module seeks to examine creaturely relations by focusing on literature from the eighteenth century up to the present, alongside key theoretical and contextual material that engages with questions concerning animality and humanity. We will focus on how writers imagine distinct animal worlds as well as how they understand the role of animals in human cultures. A range of novels, short stories and poems will raise questions about how we look at, think with, and try to give voice to animals, and topics covered will include ‘Becoming Animal’, ‘Animal Autobiography’, ‘Observing Animals’, ‘Colonial Creatures’, ‘Animal Experiments’, ‘Taming and Training’, and ‘Questions for Animals’. Students taking this module will gain a firm grounding in the diverse critical field known as ‘animal studies’, whilst also considering the broader cultural, philosophical and ethical implications of how we think about the relationship between humans and animals.
Contact hours: 32
Private study: 268
Total: 300
Main assessment methods
Essay 1 3,000 words 40%
Essay 2 3,000 words 40%
Seminar Participation 20%
Reassessment methods
100% coursework (4,500 words)
The University is committed to ensuring that core reading materials are in accessible electronic format in line with the Kent Inclusive Practices. The most up to date reading list for each module can be found on the university's reading list pages: https://kent.rl.talis.com/index.html
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
The intended subject specific learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate nuanced knowledge of representations of animals in literature across different periods (from the early 19th century to the present).
2. Demonstrate an ability to compare representations of animals in different genres, including novels, short stories and poetry.
3. Demonstrate an ability to relate writing about animals to broader historical, cultural, philosophical, and political contexts.
4. Demonstrate sophisticated analytic skills, including close textual analysis;
5. Demonstrate a thorough understanding of critical approaches to animals in literature.
The intended generic learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1. Apply sophisticated close reading techniques to a range of literary texts and genres and make productive and complex comparisons between them;
2. Display strong presentation skills and an ability to actively participate in group discussions;
3. Show an increased capacity for self-directed research and the ability to discuss, evaluate and creatively deploy secondary critical and theoretical perspectives making use of appropriate scholarly sources;
4. Frame and identify appropriate research questions and to construct original, clear and well-substantiated arguments.
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