This module will examine the relationship between urban space and narrative representation in three European cities: London, Dublin, and Berlin. Beginning with an overview of the phenomenon and resulting phenomena of urban overhaul, from Haussmann’s Paris to Victorian London via the accelerated modernisation of St Petersburg, it will then stage an interrogation of the creation and manipulation of cityscapes through the lens of literature; specifically, the labyrinthine London of Charles Dickens and Virginia Woolf, the mythical Dublin of James Joyce, and the beleaguered Berlin of Christopher Isherwood. You will be encouraged to use a combination of political, social, and literary theory to navigate literal and figurative cityscapes, through class discussion, short assignments, and exercises in urban rambling. It is hoped that this module will give you an insight into city space as a matrix of creative thought, as well as introducing you to three significant English-language writers of the urban experience.

This module will consist of a minimum of 45 contact hours with teaching taking place between 9 am and 5 pm from Monday to Friday.