ENL3002 Popular Literature

Contents

• Staffing
• Requisites
• Synopsis
• Objectives
• Topics
• Texts
• Reference materials
• Student workload
• Assessment details
• Important assessment information
• Assessment notes
• Production date
• PDF version

STAFFING

REQUISITES

SYNOPSIS

This course is designed to introduce students to a series of critical debates concerned with the social, cultural and political status of popular narrative. A number of popular narrative forms will be considered in the context of these debates.

OBJECTIVES

On successful completion of this course, students will have:

1. the ability to critically discuss the principal elements of such popular literary forms as detective fiction, the spy thriller, science fiction, and horror in terms of their generic conventions;
2. the ability to effectively relate such critical evaluation to the particular historical and cultural periods which such literature represents;
3. the ability to discuss popular fiction in the context of critical debates over the status of the popular culture;
4. articulate these objectives in the form of a written analytical argument;
5. a thorough comprehension of the set texts.

TOPICS

TEXT and MATERIALS required to be PURCHASED or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials are available for purchase from USQ BOOKSHOP (unless otherwise stated). Orders may be placed via secure internet, free fax 1800642453, phone 07 46312742 (within Australia), or mail. Overseas students should fax +61 7 46311743, or phone +61 7 46312742. For costs, further details, and internet ordering, use the 'Textbook Search' facility at http://bookshop.usq.edu.au click 'Semester', then enter your 'Course Code' (no spaces).

Day, M 1988, The life and crimes of Harry Lavender, Allen & Unwin, Sydney.

Dick, PK 1982, Do androids dream of electric sheep, Ballantine Books, London.

Doyle, AC 1950, The memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, Penguin, London.

Fleming, I 1987, Dr No, Charter Books, New York.

King, S 1975, Carrie, New English Library, London.

Le Carre, J 1964, The spy who came in from the cold, Pan, London.

Scott, Ridley (dir) 1993, Blade runner, Warner.

Stoker, B 1997, Dracula, Norton, New York.
(N Auerbach & D J Skal eds. Critical Edition ** Students are strongly advised to purchase this edition as it contains critical readings useful for the study of the topic.)

REFERENCE MATERIALS

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.

Adorno, TW & Horkheimer, M 1993, Dialectic of enlightenment, Continuum, New York.

Aldiss, B 1973, The billion year spree: The history of science fiction, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, London.

Althusser, L 1971, Lenin and philosophy, Monthly Review Books.

Amis, K 1974, New maps of hell, Arno Press, New York.

Ashley, B 1989, The study of popular fiction, Pinter, London.

Bailey, JO 1972, Pilgrims through space and time, Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn.

Bennett, T (ed) 1990, Popular fiction, Routledge, London.

Bennett, T & Woolacott, J 1987, Bond and beyond: The political career of a popular hero, Methuen, London.
(Communications and Culture Series)

Bird, D (ed) 1993, Killing women: Rewriting detective fiction, Angus & Robertson, Pymble.

Boyd, A 1975, The devil with James Bond, Greenwood Press, Connecticut.

Bukatman, Scott 1998, Blade runner, British Film Institute, London.

Dakin, DM 1972, A Sherlock Holmes commentary, David & Charles, Devon.

Easthope, A 1991, Literary into cultural studies, Routledge, London.

Ellis, KF 1989, The contested castle: Gothic novels and the subversion of domestic ideology, University of Illinois Press, Urbana.

Graham, KW (ed) 1989, Gothic fictions, AMS, New York.

Hall, J 1979, The sociology of literature, Longman, London.

Hardwick, M & M 1974, The man who was Sherlock Holmes, John Murray, London.

Harper, R 1974, The world of the thriller, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.

Haycraft, H (ed) 1947, The art of the mystery story: A collection of critical essays, Grosset & Dunlap, New York.

Holbrook, D 1976, Masks of hate, Pergamon Press, London.

Homberger, E 1986, John Le Carre, Methuen, London.

Jancovich, M 1992, Horror, Batsford, London.

Kerman, Judith B (ed) 1997, Retrofitting blade runner, Bowling Green State University Press, Bowling Green.

Knight, S 1980, Form and ideology in crime fiction, MacMillan, London.

Kristeva, J 1982, Powers of horror: An essay on abjection, Columbia University Press, New York.

Leavis, QD 1932, Fiction and the reading public, Chatto and Windus, London.

Lewis, P 1985, John Le Carre, Frederick Ungar, New York.

Mackey, Douglas A 1988, Philip K Dick, Twayne Publishers, Boston.
(Electronic copy)

Mullen, RD, Csicsery-Ronay, I Jr, Evans, AB & Hollinger, V (eds) 1992, On Philip K Dick: 40 articles from science-fiction studies, SF-TH Inc, Greencastle.

Oleksiw, S 1988, A reader's guide to the classic British mystery, GK Hall, Boston.

Palmer, J 1978, Thrillers: Genesis and structure of a popular genre, Edwin Arnold, London.

Panek, L L 1981, The special branch, The British spy novel, 1890-1980, Bowling Green University Popular Press, Bowling Green.

Pawling, C (ed) 1984, Popular fiction and social change, MacMillan, London.

Pierce, HB 1983, A literary symbiosis: Science fiction/fantasy mystery, Greenwood Press, Connecticut.

Porter, D 1981, The pursuit of crime: Art and ideology in detective fiction, Yale University Press, New Haven.

Said, E 1993, Culture and imperialism, Knopf, New York.

Symons, J 1962, The detective story in Britain, Longman Green, London.

Turner, G 1996, British cultural studies, 2nd edn, Unwin Hyman, Boston.

Warrick, Patricia S 1987, Mind in motion: The fiction of Philip K Dick, Southern Illinois UP, Edwardsville.

Wheale, Nigel (ed) 1995, Postmodern arts, Routledge, London.

Williams, R 1977, Marxism and literature, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Williams, R 1988, Keywords, Fontana, London.

STUDENT WORKLOAD REQUIREMENTS

ASSESSMENT DETAILS

NOTES

1.

This assessment is aligned with all Objectives.

2.

This assessment is aligned with all Objectives.

3.

Exam dates will be advised when the timetable has been finalised. This assessment is aligned with all Objectives.

IMPORTANT ASSESSMENT INFORMATION

1. Attendance requirements:
   There are no attendance requirements for this external course. However, it is the student's responsibility to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.
2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
   To successfully complete an individual assessment item, a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks or a grade of at least C-. This statement must be read in conjunction with Statement 4 below.
3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
   If students submit assignments after the due date without extenuating circumstances and without prior approval, then a penalty of a maximum of 5% of the assigned mark may apply for each working day late, up to a maximum of 10 working days, at which time a mark of zero can be recorded for that assignment.
4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
   To be assured of receiving a passing grade, a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.
5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
   The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.
6. Examination information:
   The exam for this course is a CLOSED examination, and candidates are allowed to bring only writing and drawing instruments into the examination.
7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
   Any deferred or supplementary examinations for this course will be held during the next examination period.
8. University Regulations:
   Students should read USQ Regulations 5.1 Definitions, 5.6 Assessment, and 5.10 Academic Misconduct for further information and to avoid actions which might contravene University Regulations. These regulations can be found at the URL http://www.usq.edu.au/corporateservices/calendar/part5.htm

ASSESSMENT NOTES

This version produced 27 May 2008.