Overview

This module will introduce students to a range of travel writing about Wales in French and German. Students will also engage with a range of travel writing theories. The course will cover the period from 1750-1900. The approach will be thematic, exploring the perceptions of different types of travellers, ranging from exiles to spies, scholars to tourists. It will enable students to consider issues such as mobility, identity, the aesthetization of landscape and the socio-political implications of travel. Students will be able to engage with research-led materials from the AHRC-funded European Travellers to Wales project in order to explore a range of non-canonical texts, as well as more widely known materials.

Assessment Strategy

-threshold -D- - D+In order to merit the award of credit, the student should demonstrate a basic comprehension of the material presented, and demonstrate that they can clearly differentiate between the various portions of the material.

-good -C- - B+Students gaining the higher grades in this course will have shown not only comprehension of the concepts and texts studied in their own right, but will also demonstrate a clear ability to contextualise them, grasping the historical context of each. They will show an ability to explore and re-evaluate critical judgements in the light of their own reading.

-excellent -A- - A+Students gaining the highest grades in this course will have thoroughly immersed themselves in promary and secondary reading, with which they will engage at a mature and incisive level. They will produce insighful nuanced analysis. They will have demonstrated a very high level of engagement with conceptual as well as factual aspects of the materials studied.

Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate an ability to analyze subject-specific material and reflect on the significance in the context of the target culture

• Demonstrate an ability to engage critically with a range of travel writing

• Demonstrate an understanding of European perceptions of Wales

• Demonstrate an understanding of travel writing theory

• Demonstrate the ability to engage critically and in detail with key texts

• Demonstrate the ability to present a critical appraisal of key texts to others

• Demonstrate the ability to produce a sustained critical discussion of key texts and theories.