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Semester 1

Edinburgh in Fiction/Fiction in Edinburgh (ENLI10310)

Course Website

https://www.ed.ac.uk/literatures-languages-cultures/english-literature/undergraduate/current/honours

Subject

English Literature

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

3

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Visiting students must have completed 4 English Literature courses at grade B or above. We will only consider University/College level courses, and we do not consider civilisation & other interdisciplinary courses, freshman seminars, writing/composition courses or film/cinema/media courses; visiting students who have taken multiple courses in literature in other languages, should have passed at least two courses in English Literature as well. **Please note that this course may incur additional costs to purchase core texts** **Please see Additional Restrictions below**

Course Summary

This course will examine the city in history as represented in fiction in the particular case of Edinburgh, from the historical fiction of Scott, Hogg and Stevenson to the genre fiction of the last two decades. It will examine the construction of the city in these texts as a site of legal, religious, economic and cultural discourse. The extent to which civic identity both contributes to and competes with national identity will be a central theme, as will the internal division of the city along lines of religion, gender, and, especially, class.

Course Description

This course will explore the unique status of Edinburgh in the literary imagination, considering fictional versions of the city from the late eighteenth century to the present. We will investigate how the qualities of Edinburgh are adapted to suit the conventions of different literary genres, from the historical fiction of Scott, Hogg, and Stevenson to Muriel Spark, Irvine Welsh, and Ian Rankin. We will examine how Edinburgh functions in these texts as a cultural, religious, economic, and legal centre,while also reflecting on its vexed relationship to the larger political entities of Scotland and the United Kingdom. In this way, our course will trace how ideas of the urban are discursively constructed, situating Edinburgh in relation to a broader tradition of writing about 'the city' in literature. Mapping the varied topography of Edinburgh in these texts and following its architectural, social, and political transformations, we will assess how these authors approach recurring themes relating to class, gender, sexuality, race, and faith.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 0%, Coursework 100%, Practical Exam 0%

Additional Restrictions

Unless you are nominated on an English Literature exchange agreement, visiting students are only permitted to enrol in one 3rd year English Literature course each, per semester, before the start of the relevant semester’s welcome period – and spaces on each course are limited so cannot be guaranteed for any student. Enrolment in a second course from this group will depend on whether there are still spaces available in the September Welcome Period, and cannot be guaranteed, and students will not be permitted to enrol in three 3rd year English Literature courses in the same semester at any time. It is NOT appropriate for students to contact staff within this subject area to ask for an exception to be made; all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. This is due to the limited number of spaces available in this very popular subject area.

view the timetable and further details for this course