University of St Andrews

Key information

SCOTCAT credits : 30

ECTS credits : 15

Level : SCQF level 10

Semester: 2

Availability restrictions: Not automatically available to General Degree students

Planned timetable: 11.00 am Thu and 11.00 am Fri

This module examines sixteenth- and seventeenth-century writing by or attributed to English and Scottish women, belonging to a range of secular and devotional genres, in prose and verse, including original compositions and translation. Spanning roughly two hundred years, the texts considered will develop insights into the changing position of women of diverse socio-economic statuses in relation to the evolving category of the author, and the professionalization of print culture. The module will also pay attention to the paratextual framing of authorial voice, influence, patronage and collaboration, to consider the roles women played in early modern cultural production, broadly conceived. The required reading will be set in dialogue with gendered narratives of artistic generation and agency in contemporary Renaissance writing by more canonical figures, as well as printed ephemera, manuscripts and marginalia, and other media.

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisite(s): Before taking this module you must pass EN2003 and pass EN2004

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact: 1x1-hour lecture (x11 weeks), 1x1-hour tutorial (x11 weeks). 2 office hours (x11 weeks)

Assessment pattern

As used by St Andrews: 2 hour Written Examination = 50%, Coursework = 50%


Re-assessment: exam = 100%

Personnel

Module coordinator: Dr H A R Archer
Module teaching staff: Dr Harriet Archer
Module coordinator email harh@st-andrews.ac.uk

Intended learning outcomes

• Demonstrate knowledge about the gendered material conditions of cultural production in early modern England across a variety of literary, political and social contexts
• Understand how language and genre shape meaning in early modern poetry, prose and drama
• Demonstrate knowledge of contemporary scholarly debates around Renaissance women's authorship and the range of forms it might take
• Demonstrate high-level analytical and argumentative skills through close reading and essay-based assessments