The Invention of Fiction in Greece

Module Code:

MCLA8820

When taught:

Lent (residential) - available at a distance from Lent 2009

Credits:

20

Level:

MA

Method of Assessment:

1 x 5,000 word essay

Teaching Methods:

Seminars / Module pack (distance learners)

Availability

Residential and distance students

Pre-requisites/restrictions:

None

Lecturers:

Owen Hodkinson

Contact hours (for residential):

20

Syllabus:

This module involves study of a range of literary texts which contain fictional narratives, and considers what the category of ‘fiction’ means, and whether (and to which texts) we should apply it in studying classical texts.  Students will trace the development of fictional narratives from dramatic, historiographical and other literary forms to the beginnings of the novel, and analyse the core texts in terms of various ancient and modern criteria for defining fiction. We will also consider the place and functions of fiction within a society and possible reasons for the development of ‘purely’ fictional literature.

Learning outcomes: 

Students will be able to:

• discuss the development of ‘fictional’ narrative through a variety of genres in Greek from the fourth century BCE to the third century CE.
• demonstrate a critical understanding of the prescribed texts and their genres.
• present a detailed literary analysis of the prescribed texts, particularly in relation to their place in the history of fiction; this may include features such as narratological technique and narrative medium (special significance of prose?), types of characters represented (e.g. special significance of ‘low’ characters?), generic affiliation (novel as ‘comic’  genre?).
• engage in debate concerning the nature and definition of fiction, and its relationship to other categories such as myth.
• show an appreciation of the importance of the categories ‘fiction’ and ‘the novel’, and engage in debate about their functions in modern and classical societies.
• demonstrate a critical assessment of secondary literature including a range of literary theory on the definition and function of fiction.

Transferable and other skills involved: 

Academic writing and presentation skills.

Main recommended texts: 

Selections from:

• Plato, Phaedrus, trans. Nehemas and Woodruff (Indianapolis 1995); Menander, Plays, trans. M. Balme (Oxford 2002); Theocritus, trans. A. Verity (Oxford 2003); Herodas, trans. I.C. Cunningham (Harvard 2002); Ancient Greek literary letters, trans. P.A. Rosenmeyer (London 2006); Collected Ancient Greek novels, ed. B.P. Reardon (California 1989); Phlegon of Tralles, trans. W. Hansen (Exeter 1996)
• C. Gill and T.P. Wiseman (eds.), Lies and Fiction in the Ancient World (Exeter 1993)
• M. Payne, Theocritus and the invention of fiction (Cambridge 2007)
• J.R. Morgan and R. Stoneman (eds.), Greek fiction: the Greek novel in context (London 1994)
• P.A. Rosenmeyer, Ancient Epistolary Fictions (Cambridge 2001) (esp. chs. 7-11)
• D. Cohn, The distinction of fiction (Baltimore 1999)
• G. Genette, Fiction and diction, trans. C. Porter (Cornell 1993)

Evaluation (including stuent evaluation):

Students will be asked to complete a questionnaire at the end of the module. This will be used by the Department in its annual review of all its teaching to help evaluate the module’s success. The external examiner will also have the opportunity to make comments and results of the questionnaires will be discussed in the SSCC.