The Unreliable Narrator 3 (10 credit points)

Content of Course

During this course, students will explore the narrative technique and the other stylistic characteristics of five novels which use an unreliable narrator. We take as a starting point Wayne C. Booth's identification of the difference between a reliable and unreliable narrator, first made in the 1960s as part of his reader-centred approach to critical thinking. Examples of unreliable narratives span both centuries and genres and a student on this course can expect to read closely a wide range of texts such as ghost stories, epistolary fiction, confessional fiction and literary hoax, from a range of eras and literary movements. We shall interrogate the use of the device in assisting the development of suspense, and how it has been used to create very complex narrative strategies with a number of competing unreliable accounts. We shall discuss frame narratives and explore narration with an oral quality, delivered to a silent listener.

1. ‘The strange and sinister embroidered on the very type of the normal and easy’: Henry James’ ghosts? Text: Henry James, The Turn of the Screw.

2. ‘I love you Joe and it’s wrecked my life’: Love and misunderstanding Text: Ian McEwan, Enduring Love.

3. ‘One man can no more see into the mind of another than he can see inside a stone.’: Crime and insanity. Text: Graeme Macrae Burnet, His Bloody Project.

4. ‘Mr. Heathcliff and I are such a suitable pair to divide the desolation between us. A capital fellow!’: Lockwood and Nelly Dean. Text: Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights.

5. ‘Yes, despicable as it may sound, my initial reaction was to be remarkably pleased’: A man of fundamentals. Text: Mohsin Hamid, The Reluctant Fundamentalist.

Teaching method(s)

Each novel will be discussed in the context of recognised literary arguments as we distinguish intentional unreliability from unintentional, and the role played by the audience; hypothetical and actual. Throughout the course we shall discuss the novels in theoretical contexts and explore their relationship to the historical and cultural concerns of the time. Students will read the novels independently and then discuss excerpts, chosen by the tutor, in a supportive tutorial atmosphere. Students will be introduced to examples of secondary reading and contemporary criticism, and be encouraged to draw on these in their analyses of the works. Students will develop skills in close reading, critical analysis, academic writing and using and interpreting secondary reading.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• Identify narrative techniques and devices and evaluate how they influence the relationship between reader and narrator;

• Construct original, clear and coherent arguments, drawing on secondary material, and using recognised critical terminology and methodologies;

• Apply knowledge of cultural, political and socio-historical contexts in arguments;

• Evaluate the various ways in which authors use an unreliable narrator to inject suspense and drama;

• Analyse contemporary responses and reactions to the texts, and explore theoretical contexts.

Sources

Core Readings

Essential:

• James, Henry. 2008. The Turn of the Screw. Oxford: Oxford World's Classics.

• McEwan, Ian. 1998. Enduring Love. London: Vintage.

• Macrae Burnet, Graeme. 2015. His Bloody Project. Glasgow: Contraband.

• Bronte, Emily. 2009. Wuthering Heights. Oxford: Oxford World's Classics.

• Hamid, Mohsin. 2013. The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Recommended:

• Mullan, John, 2008. How Novels Work. Oxford: OUP.

• Booth, Wayne C, 1995. The Rhetoric of Fiction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

• Olson, Greta, 2003. Reconsidering Unreliability: Fallible and Untrustworthy Narrators. Narrative. 11(1), p. 93.

• Rabinowitz, Peter J., 1977. Truth in Fiction: A Reexamination of Audiences. Critical Inquiry. 4(1), p. 121.

Assessments

10 credit courses have one assessment. Normally, the assessment is a 2000 word essay, worth 100% of the total mark, submitted by week 12. To pass, students must achieve a minimum of 40%. There are a small number of exceptions to this model which are identified in the Studying for Credit Guide.

Studying for Credit

If you choose to study for credit you will need to allocate significant time outwith classes for coursework and assessment preparation. Credit points gained from this course can count towards the Certificate of Higher Education.

Queries

If you have questions regarding the course or enrolment, please contact COL Reception at Paterson's Land by email COL@ed.ac.uk or by phone 0131 650 4400.

Student support

If you have a disability, learning difficulty or health condition which may affect your studies, please let us know by ticking the 'specific support needs' box on your course application form. This will allow us to make appropriate adjustments in advance and in accordance with your rights under the Equality Act 2010. For more information please visit the Student Support section of our website.