University of St Andrews

Key information

SCOTCAT credits : 30

ECTS credits : 15

Level : SCQF level 10

Semester: 1

Planned timetable: 2.00 pm - 4.00 pm Tue, and film viewing 2.00 pm - 4.00 pm Fri (some weeks)

This module examines the relationship between poetry and cinema in the last century. Film is often treated as a narrative art, yet to a number of writers and filmmakers it is poetry, and not the novel, that is cinema's closest literary relative. This module considers tendencies and techniques common to both poetry and cinema, as well as key moments of cross-fertilisation between them in movements such as Surrealism and Modernism and through the development of the 'film-poem'. The role of 'the poet' as a subject of cinema and analogous treatments of the cinema as a subject for poetry will also be discussed. In exploring the concept of a 'poetry of cinema' we will pay close attention to the different ways these terms signify over time, the different uses to which they are put, and to contrasting methods and visions in the various movements, periods, and works under discussion, as we chart the relationship between this most ancient and this most modern of arts.

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: 2-hour seminar and 2 optional consultative hours.

Scheduled learning hours: 20

Guided independent study hours: 280

Assessment pattern

As used by St Andrews: 2-hour Written Examination = 40%, Coursework = 60%

As defined by QAA
Written examinations : 40%
Practical examinations : 0%
Coursework: 60%

Re-assessment: 3-hour Written Examination = 100%