English and drama

Contemporary Stylistics: The Discourse of Film and Drama

Module code: Q3152
Level 5
15 credits in spring semester
Teaching method: Lecture, Seminar
Assessment modes: Coursework

You engage with central issues and themes in language and literature. Specifically, narrative forms in which the viewers are actively involved as ‘ratified overhearers’.

These include film and drama, where the discourse reflects the typical double plane of communication. Between the characters in the story, on one level, and the external viewers on the other.

We familiarise you with a number of approaches and practices in modern stylistics and explore:

• characterisation
• the relation between real-life and fictional talk
• deixis and the construction of viewpoint
• the notion of narrative.

The module revolves around the idea that theatre and film offer re-presentations of the world. They reorganise and recreate language, together with time and space, in respect of socio-cultural and media conventions and expectations.

We also discuss the concept of genre, focusing on discursive representation in comedy, drama, horror and hybrid genres.

Module learning outcomes

• Show an understanding of the function of linguistic strategies in film and theatre and the relevance of discourse analysis tools for investigating those texts in depth.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the actors on screen/stage and the viewers (by for instance identifying in the texts the degree of information that is deliberately conveyed to or withheld from the viewers for a specific reason).
• Show the ability to choose specific approaches for the stylistic interpretation of cinema and theatre.
• Show the ability to produce very short scenes for the theatre or big/small screen