Singapore University of Social Sciences

Popular Fiction and Culture

Popular Fiction and Culture (ELT375)

Applications Open: 01 October 2023

Applications Close: 15 November 2023

Next Available Intake: January 2024

Course Types: Modular Undergraduate Course

Language: English

Duration: 6 months

Fees: $1391.78 View More Details on Fees

Area of Interest: Linguistics and Languages

Schemes: Alumni Continuing Education (ACE)

Funding: To be confirmed

School/Department: School of Humanities & Behavioural Sciences


Synopsis

ELT375 Popular Fiction and Culture explores the history, forms and role of popular fiction in popular culture. It provides a critical introduction to key concepts and approaches to popular literature studies: debates about the value of popular literature, issues of cultural production, literary taste, readership and reception. The course looks at the important genres of popular fiction: crime and mystery, romance, horror, fantasy and science fiction. Students will read representative examples of these genres and examine them in their social, cultural, political contexts.

Level: 3
Credit Units: 5
Presentation Pattern: EVERY JAN

Topics

  • What is popular culture?
  • Literature and popular culture
  • Emergence of popular fiction and mass readership
  • Crime and mystery in detective fiction
  • Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
  • Mystery and romance
  • Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca
  • Narratives of horror: Stephen King’s Misery
  • Fantasy and science fiction in popular culture
  • Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
  • Nuraliah Norasid’s The Gatekeeper
  • Changes in modes and production of popular fiction.

Learning Outcome

  • Identify characteristic features of key genres of popular fiction.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the historical and cultural production of popular fiction.
  • Evaluate critical issues and approaches in the study of popular fiction.
  • Discuss the social, historical and cultural contexts of works of popular fiction.
  • Examine the stylistic features and treatment of issues in popular fiction genres through close reading of texts.
  • Apply research skills and critical methods to discuss works of popular fiction.
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