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ENCO528 Journalism and Literature: Realism and Writing Reality

Updated: 17 April 2012
Credit Points 6
Offering Not offered in 2013
Intensive School(s) None
Supervised Exam There is no UNE Supervised Examination.
Pre-requisites candidature in a postgraduate award
Co-requisites None
Restrictions ENCO328 or ENCO428
Notes

offered in even numbered years
Combined Units ENCO328 - Journalism and Literature: Realism and Writing Reality
Coordinator(s) Stephen Harris (sharris9@une.edu.au)
Unit Description

This unit is designed to provide a new and challenging approach to the study of literature by exploring the relationships between what have conventionally been thought of as 'literature' and 'journalism'. Major texts of fictional and non-fictional narrative are discussed, in addition to examples of the novel, biography, autobiography, reportage and 'occasional' poetry, and contemporary media. While one text is taken from the 19th century, when both journalism and prose fiction were at important stages of development, the main focus is on texts from contemporary culture, c.1960 to the present.
Materials Textbook information will be displayed approximately 8 weeks prior to the commencement of the teaching period. Please note that textbook requirements may vary from one teaching period to the next.
Disclaimer Unit information may be subject to change prior to commencement of the teaching period.
Assessment Assessment information will be published prior to commencement of the teaching period.
Learning Outcomes (LO) Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to:
  1. engage in extended consideration of many of the theoretical and critical issues relevant to the study of contemporary literature and media, including the exploration of wider issues such as the function of narrative, distinctions between factuality and fiction and definitions of 'imaginative', 'creative' and 'journalistic' writing;
  2. discuss in considerable depth and scope a range of intellectual, philosophical and political issues, eg the problems surrounding representation, the politics of genre, the role of narrative, the epistemological concerns arising from New Journalism and the extent to which the genres of the novel, biography, autobiography and reportage are interrelated;
  3. work to a sophisticated level a critical awareness and understanding of many aspects of contemporary media and how these shape our understanding and experience of the world;
  4. exercise a heightened appreciation of the changing conventions and understandings of the role of the writer/journalist through studying each text in its literary, historical and cultural context, particularly in terms of the role and reception of the writer in contemporary society;
  5. recognise the different ways in which one's knowledge of the social, cultural and political issues is influenced by a range of textual and literary forms, and how these in turn offer different perspectives on individual and collective experience; and
  6. employ to a sophisticated level their communication skills learnt through the activities of literary and critical discussion, open and critical analysis of the texts, and through submitting written work for evaluation and assessment.

Graduate Attributes (GA)
Attribute Taught Assessed Practised
1 Knowledge of a Discipline
This unit introduces students to the interelationship between journalism and literature, and relevant theoretical and critical issues. 		True True True
2 Communication Skills
As a unit in English and Communication Studies, these skills are central to the content and methodology of this unit and are assessed and taught not only in the form of written work but also open group debate and discussion. 		True True True
3 Global Perspectives
Graduates will be able to demonstrate a global perspective and inter-cultural competence in their professional lives. In discussing and analysing the relationship between journalism and literature, this unit assumes a global perspective immediately, since our everyday sense and understanding of the world is so thoroughly mediated by the various forms of media journalism. Consequently, questions of representation, 'truth' and epistemology are central to the unit and are shown to be at once historical in nature and, given the development of contemporary media technology, particular to the present day. 		True True True
4 Information Literacy
Information literacy is encouraged and supported but is not directly central to the course in terms of assessment and practice 		True
5 Life-Long Learning
In gaining deeper and richer understanding of the role of literacy and media representation in their lives, students will have been equipped with a broad range of critical and analytical techniques that will assist them directly in their future pursuits, be they professional and/or more personal and contemplative. 		True True True
6 Problem Solving
Any exercises involving critical and analytical thinking require various degrees of problem solving and in this unit the emphasis is not only practical but also creative approaches to solving problems. 		True True True
7 Social Responsibility
Through acquiring and exercising a heightened appreciation and understanding of the importance of textual and media forms of representation in modern society, students will also become keenly aware of the social and political significance of their own acts of reading and interpretation and of the ethical and political responsibility intrinsic to the act of writing for a public audience. 		True True
8 Team Work
The approach to teaching this unit hinges on inspiring and organising group interaction, both in terms of general and regular group discussions in each class, and in approaching and solving specific problems. 		True True
   

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