This module seeks to introduce students to a range of literary texts written in English by Welsh authors in the twentieth century. It provides a thought-provoking, complementary account of writing from the British Isles to set beside students’ knowledge of English and American writing of the same period. The range of set texts, encompassing both fiction and poetry, will be studied in their cultural, political, historical, and aesthetic contexts. Students will be expected to engage with such questions as national identity and belonging, language, gender, class, ethnicity, migration, and social change, as well as paying close critical attention to the literary and stylistic aspects of the set texts. Relevant theoretical perspectives will also be explored, including some of the seminal work of the Welsh cultural critic, Raymond Williams.

demonstrate a thorough understanding of the set texts and an awareness of their cultural and historical contexts; display a knowledge of the development of Welsh writing in English during the twentieth century; discuss the major themes and concerns of modern Anglophone Welsh writing.

This module will extend over both semesters. Timetabled sessions comprise a weekly lecture and a fortnightly seminar. The lectures will introduce and contextualize modern Anglophone Welsh literature and provide students with an overview of the field, as well as an introduction to the life and work of individual writers. In the seminars, students are expected to be prepared to participate in discussion of the set texts. Lectures are usually supplemented with handouts, which are also normally made available to students on Learning Central. Audio is used occasionally in this module, as well as Powerpoint. Other forms of multimedia are not used.

This module will enable students to practise and improve their writing skills, as well as their skills of oral communication. Its subject-specific content will contribute to their awareness and understanding of cultural and linguistic difference, and may be particularly relevant for students later seeking employment in Wales. Students will also be given the opportunity to write formative, unassessed essays and close readings of prose and poetry. This, together with the work done for the assessed essays, will enhance students’ subject-specific knowledge of English style, prosody, literary history, the strategic use of rhetoric, and the deployment of critical discourse. The written and oral practice will enhance students’ awareness of register and will help to improve skills in building an argument.

The module is assessed by means of two pieces of written work of equal length and weighting. The first essay will focus on fiction, and the second on poetry. Students will have had an opportunity to submit unassessed, formative pieces in preparation for this assessed work.

This module is assessed according to the Marking Criteria set out in the English Literature Course Guide. There are otherwise no academic or competence standards which limit the availability of adjustments or alternative assessments for students with disabilities.

Semester One: Welsh Fiction in English

Week 1 Lecture: Fathers and Mothers of Welsh Fiction in English: Allen Raine and Caradoc Evans

Week 2 Lecture: The Short Story in Wales

Week 1 and 2 Seminar: ‘Allen Raine’, ‘Home Sweet Home’ (short story, 1908); Caradoc Evans, stories from My People  (Seren, 1987 [1915])

Week 3 Lecture: Borders, Gender and nationhood in Margiad Evans and Dorothy Edwards

Week 4 Lecture: Lecture: Writing the Industrial Experience: Raymond Williams, B. L. Coombes and Rhys Davies

Week 3 and 4 Seminar: Dorothy Edwards, ‘The Conquered’ (short story, 1927); Margiad Evans, Country Dance (Parthian, 2005 [1932])

Week 5 Lecture: Anatomizing the industrial experience: Gwyn Thomas and Menna Gallie

Week 6 READING WEEK

Week 7 Lecture: Form, Language and Style: the three voices of Emyr Humphreys’ A Toy Epic

Week 5 and 7 Seminar: Thomas, Gwyn, ‘Oscar’ (novella, 1946); Menna Gallie, The Small Mine (Honno, 2000 [1962]) 

Week 8 Lecture: Contemporary women writers and the ‘Land of My Fathers’

Week 8 & 9 Seminar: Emyr Humphreys’ A Toy Epic (Seren, 1989 [1958]); Siân James, ‘Happy as Saturday Night’, Clare Morgan, ‘Losing’ (short stories, 1990s).

Week 9 Lecture: Fiction, Place, and Politics

Week 10 Lecture: Changing Wales: the contemporary novel

Week 10 & 11 Seminar: Chris Meredith, Shifts, (Seren, 1997 [1988]); Cynan Jones, The Long Dry (Parthian, 2006)

Week 11 Lecture: Conclusion and essay advice

Semester Two: Welsh Poetry in English

Week 1 Lecture: Introductory: Overview of the history of Welsh poetry in English; ‘seepage’ between the Welsh language tradition and English-language poetry. Poems alluded to: ‘Consider Kyffin’, Raymond Garlick; ‘Llywelyn Goch ap Meurig Hen at Speed’ by  Peter Finch; ‘Easter Wings’ by George Herbert, ‘The Windhover’ by Gerard Manley Hopkins; translated extracts from Aneirin and Dafydd ap Gwilym. 

Week 1 & 2 Seminar: ‘Swifts’ by Glyn Jones; ‘Gwern-y-Cleppa’, Catherine Fisher.

Week 2 Lecture: Place and belonging: ‘Merthyr,’ Glyn Jones; ‘Land of My Mothers’, Idris Davies; ‘Llŷn’, Christine Evans; ‘Little of Distinction,’ Ruth Bidgood; ‘The Welsh Hill Country,’ R. S. Thomas.

Week 3 Lecture: Language: ‘Reservoirs,’ R S Thomas; ‘Translation,’ Gillian Clarke; ‘Mother Tongue,’ Gwyneth Lewis; ‘The Heart of Saturday Night,’ Stephen Knight; ‘The Old Language,’ John Davies; ‘Mouthy,’ Mike Jenkins.

Week 3 & 4 Seminar: ‘Return to Cardiff,’ Dannie Abse.

Week 4 Lecture: Women’s Lives: ‘The Collier’s Wife’, W H Davies; ‘Lunchtime Lecture,’ Gillian Clarke; ‘Largo,’ Deryn Rees-Jones; ‘My Mother’s Perfume,’ Pascale Petit; ‘Jugged Hare,’ Jean Earle; ‘My Mother Missed the Beautiful and Doomed,’ Christopher Meredith.

Week 5 Lecture: Elegy: ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’, Dylan Thomas; ‘All Day it has Rained,’  Alun Lewis; ‘Tidy Boy,’ David Hughes;  ‘Lament’, Gillian Clarke; ‘Elegy for the Welsh Dead in the Falklands,’ Tony Conran.

Week 5 & 6 Seminar: ‘After the Funeral’, Dylan Thomas.

READING WEEK

Week 7 Lecture: Satire: ‘Synopsis of the Great Welsh novel’, Harri Webb; ‘Taffy is a Welshman’, Alun Rees; ‘Welsh Landscape,’ R S Thomas; ‘RNLD TOMOS,’ Peter Finch; ‘To Whom it may Concern,’ Oliver Reynolds.

Week 8 Lecture: Nature: ‘Fern Hill,’ Dylan Thomas;  ‘A Blackbird Singing,’ R. S. Thomas; ‘Severn Bore,’ Catherine Fisher; ‘Leisure,’ W H Davies; ‘The Orchids of Cwm-y-Gaer,’ Robert Minhinnick.

Week 8 & 9 Seminar: ‘Welsh History’ R. S. Thomas.

Week 9 Lecture: History/Politics: ‘Notes for an Autobiography,’ Raymond Garlick; ‘Summer in the Village,’ Christine Evans; ‘Ancestor Worship,’ Emyr Humphreys; ‘Community,’ Sally Roberts Jones; ‘On Hay Bridge,’ Christopher Meredith.

EASTER BREAK

Week 10 Lecture: Love/Belief: ‘Goodbye,’ Alun Lewis; ‘A Marriage’ and ‘In Church’, R. S. Thomas; ‘Brechfa Chapel,’ Roland Mathias; ‘Epithalamion,’ Dannie Abse; ‘I told her I loved her a lot in Splott,’ Ifor Thomas.

Week 10 & 11 Seminar: Revision and essay advice

Week 11 Lecture: Dialogues with Tradition: ‘The Master,’ Bryn Griffiths; ‘RS,’ Gillian Clarke; ‘Ann Griffiths,’ Sally Roberts Jones; ‘Vaughan Variations,’ Anne Cluysenaar; extracts from In Parenthesis, David Jones; ‘Pwyll the Old God,’ Jeremy Hooker.

The main readings for this module are contained in a published anthology of poems and in the set novels and short stories. Secondary reading includes books and journal articles, some of which are available online. Students should contact the module leader as early as possible if they will require readings in an alternative format. 

The main readings for this module are contained in a published anthology of poems and in the set novels and short stories. Secondary reading includes books and journal articles, some of which are available online. Students should contact the module leader as early as possible if they will require readings in an alternative format. 

Primary texts in semester one are likely to vary from year to year.

The short stories studied will normally be provided as photocopies; students are expected to acquire their own copies of the novels and the poetry anthology.

Semester One set texts:

‘Allen Raine’, ‘Home Sweet Home’ (short story, 1908)

Caradoc Evans, My People  (Bridgend: Seren, 1987 [original ed. 1915])

Dorothy Edwards, ‘The Conquered’ (short story, 1927)

Rhys Davies, ‘Blodwen’ (short story, 1931)

Margiad Evans, Country Dance (Cardigan: Parthian, 2005 [original ed. 1932])

B.L. Coombes ‘Twenty Tons of Coal’ (short story, 1937)

Thomas, Gwyn, ‘Oscar’ (novella, 1946)

Humphreys, Emyr, A Toy Epic (Bridgend: Seren, 1989 [original ed. 1958])

Menna Gallie, The Small Mine (Dinas Powys: Honno, 2000 [original ed. 1962]) 

Siân James, ‘Happy as Saturday Night’(short story, 1990s)

Clare Morgan, ‘Losing’ (short story, 1990s)

Chris Meredith,  Shifts, (Bridgend: Seren, 1997 [original ed. 1988])

Cynan Jones, The Long Dry (Cardigan: Parthian, 2006)

Semester Two set text:

Stephens, Meic (ed.) Poetry 1900-2000 (Library of Wales Series), Cardigan: Parthian, 2007

Secondary sources

Aaron, Jane, et al. ed., Our Sisters' Land : The Changing Identity of Women in Wales, (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1994)

Bohata, Kirsti Postcolonialism Revisited (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2004)

Conran, Tony, The Cost of Strangeness: Essays on the English Poets of Wales, (Llandysul: Gomer, 1982)

Conran, Tony, Frontiers in Anglo-Welsh Poetry (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1997)

Davies, Diane, ‘Anglo-Welshness: the semantics of hyphenation’, in Keith Cameron, ed., The Nation: Myth or Reality? (London: Intellect Books, 1994) pp. 23-9.

Garlick, Raymond, An Introduction to Anglo-Welsh Literature (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1970)

Gramich, Katie, ‘Cymru or Wales?: Explorations in a Divided Sensibility’ in Studying British Cultures ed. Susan Bassnett, (London: Routledge, 1997)

Gramich, Katie, Twentieth-Century Women’s Writing in Wales: Land, Gender, Belonging (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2008)

Gramich, Katie, ed. Mapping the Territory: Critical Approaches to Welsh Fiction in English (Cardigan: Parthian, 2010)

Gregson, Ian, The New Poetry in Wales (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2007)

Harris, John, A Bibliographical Guide to Twenty-Four Modern Anglo-Welsh Writers, (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1994)

Hooker, Jeremy, Imagining Wales: A View of Modern Welsh Writing in English (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2001)

Humphreys, Emyr, The Taliesin Tradition, (London: Black Raven Press, 1983)

Jarvis, Matthew, Welsh Environments in Contemporary Poetry, (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2008)

Jones, Glyn, The Dragon has Two Tongues, (London: Dent, 1968; reprint Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2001)

Jones, Gwyn, The First Forty Years: Some Notes on Anglo-Welsh Literature, (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1957)

Lloyd, David, ed., The Urgency of Identity: Contemporary English-Language Poetry from Wales (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1994)

Mathias, Roland,  A Ride Through the Wood: Essays on Anglo-Welsh Literature, (Bridgend: Poetry Wales Press, 1985)

Mathias, Roland,Anglo-Welsh Literature: An Illustrated History, (Bridgend: Poetry Wales Press, 1986)

Stephens, Meic, ed., The New Companion to the Literature of Wales, (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1998)

Thomas, M. Wynn, ed., Welsh Writing in English, (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2003)

Thomas, M. Wynn, In the Shadow of the Pulpit: Literature and Nonconformist Wales (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2010)

Thomas, Ned, The Welsh Extremist: Modern Welsh Politics, Literature and Society, original ed. 1971, reprint with additional chapter, (Talybont: Y Lolfa, 1991)

Williams, Daniel, ed., Slanderoustongues: Essays on Welsh poetry in English 1970-2005 (Seren, 2010)

Williams, Raymond, ‘Working-class, proletarian, socialist: problems in some Welsh novels’, in H. Gustav Klaus, ed., The Socialist Novel in Britain, (Brighton: Harvester, 1982)

Williams, Raymond, The Welsh Industrial Novel, [The inaugural Gwyn Jones lecture] (Cardiff: University College Cardiff Press, 1979)

Williams, Raymond, Who Speaks for Wales?: Nation, Culture, Identity , ed. Daniel Williams (Cardiff : University of Wales Press, 2006)

Thomas, Ned, The Welsh Extremist: Modern Welsh Politics, Literature and Society, original ed. 1971, reprint with additional chapter, (Talybont: Y Lolfa, 1991)

Williams, Daniel, ed., Slanderoustongues: Essays on Welsh poetry in English 1970-2005 (Seren, 2010)

Williams, Raymond, ‘Working-class, proletarian, socialist: problems in some Welsh novels’, in H. Gustav Klaus, ed., The Socialist Novel in Britain, (Brighton: Harvester, 1982)

Williams, Raymond, The Welsh Industrial Novel, [The inaugural Gwyn Jones lecture] (Cardiff: University College Cardiff Press, 1979)

Williams, Raymond, Who Speaks for Wales?: Nation, Culture, Identity , ed. Daniel Williams (Cardiff : University of Wales Press, 2006)