Module manager: Sarah Hudspith
Email: S.F.Hudspith@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2026/27
This module is not approved as a discovery module
Contemporary World Literature allows students to study a range of recent novels or short stories translated into English from some of the different languages taught in LCS. It introduces students to the concepts of the global novel and the international literary field, exploring questions of publication, translation, and reception, including reviews, criticism and prizes. Team-taught by weekly seminars over both semesters, the module allows time for in-depth study and discussion of the primary texts (usually three per semester). Students are encouraged to develop their own interests in the different themes covered over the year, including affect, ethics, family, gender, genre, history, identity, love, memory, multilingualism, politics, sexuality, transnationalism, and trauma. The texts studied vary from year to year, embracing both critically and commercially successful works as well as lesser-known ones. Please note this is an optional module and runs subject to enrolments. If a low number of students choose this module, then the module may not run and you may be asked to choose another module.
The first aim of this module is to give students a clear and detailed understanding of the role that literature plays today as part of a global cultural field where it competes with cinema, music, and the internet. Literature still has a unique role in allowing writers and readers the imaginative time and space to explore different themes and to ask difficult questions of the past, present, and future. The second aim is to introduce students to some of the strategies that writers use to create possible worlds, including narration, plot, characterisation, dialogue, and genre (e.g. from historical realism to magical realism, speculative fiction, or dystopia). The third aim is to allow students to develop their ability to discuss, critique and summarise differing views of various ethical, cultural and political topics, thereby acquiring useful transferable skills for future work or study.
These objectives are realised through the private study, seminar discussions, and assessment. After an introductory seminar in which the module leader sets out the central themes for discussion, the module is structured around blocks of three weeks focusing on a particular primary text, taught by a specialist teacher. Students prepare each week answers to questions relating to the primary text and/or guided secondary reading. In the final seminar, the module leader chairs a critical reflection on the module as a whole, which also enables students to discuss their assessment.
On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
1. Appraise how contemporary literary production, translation and reception operate within the global literary field.
2. Evaluate different literary theories and approaches to studying literature from different areas and cultures.
3. Analyse critically different literary texts, drawing on a range of appropriate secondary sources.
4. Develop a well-structured, critically informed, and self-reflective argument drawing on evidence.
5. Communicate clearly and effectively complex ideas and information.
6. Reflect critically on their own learning and interpretive processes.
Intercultural Skills
Research Skills
Analytical Skills
Employability Skills
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seminar | 20 | 1 | 20 |
| Private study hours | 180 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 20 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Oral formative feedback will be provided on an ongoing basis, both individually and collectively in seminars . Written formative feedback on a draft reflective journal entry will be given during Semester 1.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Reflective Log | 100 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Check the module area in Minerva for your reading list
Last updated: 30/04/2026
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team