Entry requirements

General eligibility + English 6. Or: English level 2.

Main field

No main field of study

Progression level in relation to degree requirements

The course is not part of a main field of study.

Course contents

The aim of the course is to give students the opportunity to study working-class literatures from different periods and contexts from a historical and international perspective, with a focus on this literature’s relationship to both social phenomena and literary development.

The first part of the course is an introduction to the concept of working-class literature, with a focus on how it has been used in different ways in different contexts. Thereafter, working-class literatures from different countries are studied and compared. The final part of the course is devoted to the writing of individual essays.

Learning outcomes

On completion of the course the student will:

1. be able to explain the concept of working-class literature;
2. be able to identify and describe different kinds of working-class literature;
3. show the ability to analyze working-class literature in different contexts, and;
4. be able to explain and discuss key theoretical and historical debates in the academic study of working-class literature.

Learning activities

The main learning activities are: lectures, supervised independent study, the writing of analyses of literary texts with the point of departure in historical facts and theoretical concepts, peer review and discussions.

Assessment

The course is examined through three written assignments (3 credits each), and a written take-home exam (6 credits) in the form of a short essay. The first written assignment focuses on learning outcome 1. The second and third focus on learning outcomes 2 and 3. The take-home exam tests all the learning outcomes, with specific focus on number 4. All written examinations can be supplemented with oral discussions.

Three opportunities for examination are offered during the academic year. Students who have not finished the course, have the opportunity to take part in examinations the next time the course is offered. Under such circumstances, assignments are carried out according to the literature and assignments that are valid during the time the examination is carried out.

Course literature

• Coles, Nicholas and Paul Lauter. 2017. A History of American Working-Class Literature. Cambridge UP. Pp 1–7, 232–263 and 376–405.
• Clark, Ben and Nick Hubble. 2018. Working-Class Writing: Theory and Practice. Palgrave McMillan. Pp 1–6.
• Clark, Ben (ed.) 2025. The Routledge Companion to Working-Class Literature. Routledge. Pp 1–40.
• Lennon, John and Magnus Nilsson (eds.). 2017 and 2020 Working-Class Literature(s): Historical and International Perspectives. 2 vol. Stockholm UP.
• Nilsson. Magnus. 2019. ”Working-class comics? Proletarian self-reflexiveness in Mats Källblad’s graphic novel Hundra år i samma klass.” Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics 10.3 https://doi.org/10.1080/21504857.2018.1500383
• Perera, Sonali. 2014. No Country: Working-Class Writing in the Age of Globalization. Columbia UP. Pp 1–19.
• Pierse, Michael (ed.) 2017. A History of Irish Working-Class Writing. Cambridge UP. Pp 1–36.
• Tokarczyk, Michell M. (ed.) 2011. Critical Approaches to American Working-Class Literature. Routledge. Pp. 1–13.
• Wright, Rochelle. 1996. “Literature Democratized: Working-Class Writers of the 1930s”. In Lars G. Warme (ed.), A History of Swedish Literature. U of Nebraska P. Pp. 333–346.

Some literature will be provided via the course learning platform. Additional literature encompassing 200 pages may be added. Fiction is chosen in collaboration with the teachers.

Course evaluation

Malmö University provides students who participate in, or who have completed a course, with the opportunity to express their opinions and describe their experiences of the course by completing a course evaluation administered by the University. The University will compile and summarise the results of course evaluations. The University will also inform participants of the results and any decisions relating to measures taken in response to the course evaluations. The results will be made available to the students (HF 1:14).

Interim rules

If a course is no longer offered, or has undergone significant changes, the students must be offered two opportunities for re-examination based on the syllabus that applied at the time of registration, for a period of one year after the changes have been implemented.

Additional information

If a student has a Learning support decision, the examiner has the right to provide the student with an adapted test, or to allow the student to take the exam in a different format. The syllabus is a translation of a Swedish source text.