ENGL 6952 Pulp Fiction: Medieval and Modern

Semester 1, Thursday 5.15 pm to 7.15 pm.
Woolley Ruilding, room to be announced (see noticeboards).

Dr Diane Speed (Coordinator):                 Room N427. Phone 9351 2589.
                                                           Email diane.speed@english.usyd.edu.au

Associate Professor Geraldine Barnes       Room S. Phone 9351 2571.
                                                            Email geraldine.barnes@english.usyd.edu.au

SET TEXTS

The following have been ordered through the Coop:

Dobson, Joanne, Cold and Pure and Very Dead
Fleming, Ian, Casino Royale
Le Carré, John, The Spy Who Came In from the Cold
Maclean, Alistair, Where Eagles Dare
Metalious, Grace, Peyton Place
Segal, Erich, Love Story
Susann, Jacqueline, Valley of the Dolls

The following anonymous medieval romances, each approximately the length of one of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, will be available from the lecturers in a resource book at the beginning of the unit:

Floris and Blauncheflour
The Romance ov Duke Roland and Sir Otuel of Spain
The Squire of Low Degree

Reference will also be made from time to time to other, associated texts, but students may choose whether or not to pursue these. Critical and background reading will be indicated in class.

ASSESSMENT

1. A class paper to be presented orally, then submitted in written form within two weeks of the presentation, 1000—1500 words. The mark will be given on the basis of the written version. This should have proper documentation, but extensive research will not be expected.

2. An essay of 3000 words, referring in detail to at least two of the set texts listed, to be submitted by Thursday, 12 June. Some topics will be suggested, but students may formulate their own topic in consultation with one of the lecturers.

PLEASE NOTE

1. The relevant texts should always have been read beforehand.

2. The class paper(s) to be presented in any week will have been agreed beforehand, and the rest of the class should do appropriate preparation in order to participate in the discussion that will follow the presentation(s).

3. Both lecturers will normally be present at all seminars.

SCHEDULE OF CLASSES

13 March         Introduction to the unit and the concept ‘pulp fiction’.
                    Peyton Place as classic pulp fiction: identifying the ethos and elements.

20 March        The power of Peyton Place: issues and appeal. Cold and Pure and Very Dead as a product of Peyton Place.

27 March        CLASS PAPERS related to the previous seminar.
                     Floris and Blauncheflour and Love Story?young love and the forces stacked up against it.

3 April           CLASS PAPERS related to the previous seminar.
                    The Squire of Low Degree and Valley of the Dolls?drugs, disease, and death.

10 April          CLASS PAPERS related to the previous seminar.
                    The Squire of Low Degree and Valley of the Dolls?the glitz.
                    The phenomenon of the sequel (with particular reference to texts already discussed).

17 April          CLASS PAPERS related to the previous seminar.
                    Roland and Otuel and Where Eagles Dare?the public enemy and doing one’s duty.

1 May             CLASS PAPERS related to the previous seminar.
                    Casino Royale?the Bond phenomenon: guns and glamour.

8 May            CLASS PAPERS related to the previous seminar.
                    The Spy Who Came In from the Cold?who is the enemy, and what are we defending?

15 May           Issues arising: pulp fiction as a genre?
                    CLASS PAPERS on this or other topics.

22 May           Issues arising: the landscape of pulp fiction.
                    CLASS PAPERS on this or other topics.

29 May           Issues arising: pulp fiction and academe.
                     CLASS PAPERS on this or other topics.

5 June            Issues arising: what next?
                     CLASS PAPERS on this or other topics.
 

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