BA (Hons) History and English Literature

The aim of this module is to provide you with an understanding of the basic strands of literary and cultural theories, such as feminism, Marxism, postcolonial theory, and psychoanalysis. It will allow you to explore and evaluate these theoretical perspectives through practical application to literary texts as well as to other primary sources.

This module will provide an understanding of the early Soviet state and its relationship to society. You will gain knowledge and skills to understand, identify and critically assess different kinds of source material.

The aim of this module is to analyse a wide variety of short writing from the post-Second World War era to develop skills of close reading and textual analysis. You will also explore the relationship between short writing and modernity/contemporary culture.

The module incorporates the following LJMU Employability Skills:

1. Analysis, problem solving and decision making.
2. Planning and organisation.
3. Creativity and enterprise.
4. Intercultural skills.

The aim of the Dissertation is to develop the ability to identify a relevant historical topic and formulate a research proposal designed to explore aspects of that topic to a high level. You will develop the ability to analyse and interpret primary and secondary historical sources in pursuit of a self-defined problem.

This module aims to introduce key social, cultural and political contexts and historical debates concerning everyday life in France in the period leading up to, during and following the Second World War. You will be introduced to key historiographical debates such as the legacies of the First World War, the significance of political and social divisions in 1930s France and the reasons for the defeat of 1940.

The aim of this module is to provide an insight into the people's experience of living day-by-day in Britain during the Second World War. You will be introduced to the theoretical approach of cultural history on how people situate themselves within society irrespective of the greater events being played out around them.

This module will give you an opportunity to pursue your own intellectual interests to undertake an independent academic study, working on your own initiative and building strong time management skills.

The aim of this module is to introduce you to Bolshevik concepts of the body, and how these related to wider social, political, economic and cultural issues. You will be provided with an in-depth understanding of the early Soviet state and society, developing their analytical, critical, and communication skills.

The aim of this module is to analyse domestic space as an important aspect of contemporary culture, to familiarize you with a range of disciplinary and philosophical traditions which have focused upon domestic space.

This module will extend your knowledge of the diversity and range of British writing in the twenty-first century in order to explore key events that shape literary culture in Britain today.

The aim of this module is to introduce the history of Victorian cities. You will investigate the themes of class and gender in the Victorian city which will enable you to think critically about and historicise urban identities.

This module will reinforce the ability to critically analyse texts in close detail to examine a range of Shakespeare's plays in the context of their original cultural production.

This module will examine the genre of Gothic fiction as it has developed over two centuries to explore the cultural, historical and intellectual contexts that shape the moment of its production.

This module will introduce the concept of 'world literature' through a selection of texts from the twentieth to the twenty-first centuries in relation to the rise and expansion of a global modernity. You will examine on-going critical debates around key areas of research in the global humanities: a singular modernity, the politics of translation, the periphery and the world system.

This module will apply historiographical themes in the study of decolonisation to a set of case studies in the Southeast Asia region to examine the programme themes of 'nation, state and power', 'structure and agency' and 'culture, locale and identity' in relation to decolonisation in the developing world, and specifically in Southeast Asia. You will be able to demonstrate variety and diversity in the experience of decolonization, particularly in Southeast Asia.

This module examines shifting identities and the intersections of class, sexuality, gender and regionality in British literature of the interwar years. It moves across popular, middlebrow and experimental fiction and looks at poetry, non-fiction and magazine publishing as a means of examining the changing cultural formations of the period.

This module explores how Victorian writers responded to environmental changes. It examines key historical and intellectual developments shaping debates about the natural world in the Victorian period; you consider links between the historical past and current modes of environmentalism.

The aim of this module will enable you to engage in a critical debate about the historiography associated with key events in Irish history. You will engage with different methods of teaching history to different audiences to critically assess the way in which the 1798 Rebellion, the Great Irish Famine and the 1916 Easter Rising have been commemorated and celebrated by later generations.

This module explores the representation of the mind and mental states in literary texts, with a focus on madness and unconventional states of mind. It introduces students to the interdisciplinary study of literature alongside psycho-sciences, including psychoanalytic literary criticism, the history of psychiatry, medical-model psychology, and cognitive literary studies. Students will question established discourses and modes of representing madness and the mind in contemporary culture, challenging scientific and medical authority. 

This module enhances students' understanding of non-fiction travel literature, encouraging nuanced interpretations and effective long-form writing. It explores travel narratives' reflection of encounters with otherness, reassessment of the familiar, and their link to human identity and the non-human world. Indicative texts range from Mary Wollstonecraft to Robert Macfarlane, spanning from the late-eighteenth to the early 21st century.

This module delves into contemporary literature, covering fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, and explores current debates in the English-speaking publishing world. It emphasizes how production circumstances shape contemporary texts and encourages reflection on the writer's role in modern society. Topics include women's history in the era of #Me Too, climate fiction, diversity in publishing, gender identity, freedom of speech, 'cancel culture,' and pandemic writing. Students will engage with works by various authors such as Hallie Rubenhold, Reni Eddo-Lodge, and Akwaeke Emezi.

This module provides students with specialized knowledge about the history of Germany during the National Socialist dictatorship, including totalitarian rule and the persecution of political opponents, ethnic and religious minorities. It extensively covers the Holocaust and offers a deep understanding of historiographical debates related to the Third Reich and the Holocaust. The syllabus includes lectures and seminars on various topics, such as the rise of the Nazis, establishment of the Nazi dictatorship, opposition to the Nazi regime, Nazi foreign policy, anti-Jewish policies, the Holocaust, and the aftermath of the Third Reich and the Holocaust.

This module focuses on modern fiction focused on the urgent environmental crises with which we are now obliged to reckon. Some of the issues you will engage with on this module include climate, the environment as a concept, the non-human, and the alternative approaches to nature represented in indigenous narrative systems.

This module explores writing by and about African Americans from the mid-twentieth century to the present; you will consider how Black writers and artists have contested racial injustices, articulated new identities, and identified grounds for solidarity and alliance.

This module focuses on recent works of transnational fiction that have been adapted for the screen. Drawing on literary studies, film studies, adaptation studies, and postcolonial studies, you will examine novels about migrants alongside their film adaptations, considered as ‘migrants’ from page to screen.

Within this module, you will have the opportunity to acquire a work-based or work-related learning experience. This
will help you to identify the links between your degree and employability prospects. LJMU will support you to
identify, enhance, and deploy transferable skills and abilities relevant to the workplace.

This module explores how extinction on various scales, from the local and national to the planetary, is conceptualized and represented in American environmental and ecocritical texts, including fiction, nature writing, and ecocritical theory.