ATS1076 · Literature and environment: Text, genre, world

Overview

In this unit you will examine how literary texts frame and influence understandings of the natural world. You will explore texts from eighteenth-century Romanticism, through the era of industrialisation and empire, to the growth of environmentalism in the later twentieth century. Geographically, you will examine a range of European, Asian and settler-colonial contexts and the interplays between them. A core theme of the unit is how a creator's choice of medium (orality, print, digital technologies) influences the resulting text. You will read texts drawn from a wide array of literary genres (such as short- and long-form fiction, poetry, drama/performance, non-fiction, graphic narrative, multimedia and born-digital works) and consider how contemporary authors use genre to respond to twenty-first-century global challenges of the Anthropocene and climate crisis. You will critically assess the potential of literature's relationship to ecological awareness and environmental politics. This unit will give you an excellent foundation in Literary Studies concepts, methods and theories to build upon in second- and third-year units. The unit does not require you to have any prior familiarity with literary or environmental topics.

Areas of study: Literary studies

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Within semester assessment:100%

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

The Handbook lists no prerequisite, corequisite or prohibition for this unit.

Learning outcomes

1. recognise and analyse key historical developments in literary representations of the natural world;
2. proficiently close-read literary texts across various media with attention to how genre conventions influence reader interpretation;
3. critically compare how different literary and cultural traditions -- including contemporary Australian writing -- explore human relationships to the environment;
4. locate, summarise and critique academic literary criticism of set texts;
5. construct well-structured, evidence-based and engaging arguments in written and verbal form to convince others;
6. engage confidently in collaborative literary-critical discussion and debate in verbal, print and online fora.

Workload

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.