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Department of the Languages and Cultures of South East Asia

Thai Short Stories

Course Code:
15PSEC014
Status:
Course Not Running 2013/2014
Unit value:
1
Taught in:
Full Year

Prerequisites

Advanced knowledge of Thai language 

Objectives and learning outcomes of the course

The aim of this course is to provide students taking a Masters programme in the Languages and Literatures of South East Asia/South East Asian Studies/Comparative Literature (Asia/Africa)) with a clear understanding of the development of the short story genre in Thailand and its place in modern Thai literary studies.  

At the end of this course students should be able to . . . . 

  • draw connections between this material and that of other courses they are taking
  • develop advanced understanding of Thai literary aesthetics and style
  • develop an ability to critically analyse both the content and form of selected literary texts
  • demonstrate a clear knowledge of the pattern of development of the Thai short story
  • understand the Thai short story in the social and political context in which individual works were written

Workload

This course will be taught over 22 weeks with 2 hours classroom contact per week.

Scope and syllabus

This course focuses on the study of modern Thai literature through the genre of the short story.  It assumes an advanced knowledge of Thai language and emphasises literary interpretation rather than language learning.  Students are required to prepare Thai literary texts in advance for detailed discussion with the course tutor and to undertake supplementary reading of critical material in both Thai and English.

Syllabus:

  1. the development of the short story as a genre of Thai prose fiction from its earliest instance in 1874 to the present day
  2. examples of Thai key texts from significant moments in the development of the genre with emphasis on post 1970
  3. analysis of individual texts in both content and form and in the social, political, cultural and historical contexts in which they were composed
  4. reading of supplementary critical material in both Thai and English and further literary texts in translation

Method of assessment

One three-hour written examination taken in May/June (70%); an essay of 3,000 words  to be submitted on day 1, week 1, term 2 (15%); an essay of 3,000 words to be submitted on day 1, week 1, term 3 (15%).

Suggested reading

The reading list will be made available to students by the convenor at the beginning of the course.