Literature And Media

Module description

This course investigates the ways in which literary texts and cultural theories have responded to the emergence of multiple new media formats through the twentieth and into the twenty - first centuries. By situating literary and theoretical texts in a broader network of visual, aural and interactive media the course invites students to consider:

• the social, political and cultural contexts that shape and are shaped by media technologies;
• written texts as media;
• shifting relationships between text, image, and sound;
• the historical implications of mechanical reproduction;
• the emergence of networked communication;
• the cultural and political impact of digital technologies. 

Assessment details

1 x 3,000 word essay (85%); 1 x 1,000 word critical response (15%)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students will be able to demonstrate intellectual, transferable and practicable skills appropriate to a Level 6 module and in particular will be able to:

• Engage with the ways in which literature has responded to and represented different technical media and their cultural implications.
• Develop critical responses to a wide range of textual material and sociocultural phenomena.
• Demonstrate appropriate critical strategies for engaging with concepts and cultures of literature and media technologies.
• Develop sophisticated critical positions and methods through collaboration and discussion.

Teaching pattern

2 hour seminar, weekly

Suggested reading list

• Critical Terms for Media Studies, ed.s W.J.T. Mitchell and Mark Hansen (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010)
• Geoffrey Winthrop-Young, Kittler and the Media (Cambridge: Polity, 2010) - for an overview of Friedrich Kittler's media theory

Module description disclaimer

King’s College London reviews the modules offered on a regular basis to provide up-to-date, innovative and relevant programmes of study. Therefore, modules offered may change. We suggest you keep an eye on the course finder on our website for updates.

Please note that modules with a practical component will be capped due to educational requirements, which may mean that we cannot guarantee a place to all students who elect to study this module.

Please note that the module descriptions above are related to the current academic year and are subject to change.