Short course
Colonial Perspectives: Joseph Conrad, Virginia Woolf, and Katherine Mansfield
Course status:
Applications being accepted
Dates:
28/09/2026 - 30/11/2026
Study format:
In-person weekly
Level:
Beginner
Fees:
£315.00
This course will zoom in on the experience of colonialism through the lenses of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness (1899), Virginia Woolf's The Voyage Out (1915), and a selection of Katherine Mansfield's New Zealand short stories (1912-1922). These writers reveal how colonialism affected the perception of both the colonised lands and the homeland; while giving us an insight into the colonisers' perspective, their works are also critical of colonial rule and society.
Based on Conrad's own experience of commanding a steamboat down the Congo River, Heart of Darkness tells the story of a journey of disorienting discovery: of an inscrutable nature, the darkest sides of imperialistic exploitation, and the hollowness of the human heart.
Woolf's first novel, The Voyage Out, narrates the coming-of-age of a young woman who travels with a small group to a South American tourist colony: her process of self-discovery in a distant and obscure land turns the mirror upon British society itself, showing how imperialism and patriarchy are closely intertwined.
Born in New Zealand, Mansfield conveys the outsider's outlook of the colonial writer in Europe, never fully integrated but also critical of the provincialism of her original white settler community. Mansfield's New Zealand stories express all the potential and unease of looking at the world 'from the margins', within a repressive society that keeps artificially separate from the surrounding environment.
Through close readings and seminar-style discussion, this course will explore these three different literary voices to give you a kaleidoscopic picture of colonialism, reflecting on the ways in which the encounter with the distant and foreign can be one of the best routes to knowing oneself.
Book this course
Book your place online using the button below.
Programme details
Course starts Monday 28 September 2026
This is an in-person course which requires your attendance at the weekly meetings in Oxford on Mondays, 10.30am-12.30pm.
Week 1: Introduction to early-twentieth-century literature and colonialism
Week 2: Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness 1
Week 3: Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness 2
Week 4: Virginia Woolf’s The Voyage Out 1
Week 5: Virginia Woolf’s The Voyage Out 2
Week 6: Woolf and Conrad: comparing voyages
Week 7: Katherine Mansfield: selected New Zealand stories 1
Week 8: Katherine Mansfield: selected New Zealand stories 2
Week 9: Nature, self and ‘other’ in Conrad, Woolf and Mansfield
Week 10: Conclusions: colonial perspectives between assimilation and critique
Teaching methods
This is an interactive course and students’ own ideas and inputs will be encouraged at all times, through mind-mapping exercises, mini-research prompts and other activities in pairs and as a group. Students will be asked to read the literary works in advance and take some notes on specific passages to prepare for seminar-style discussion. During the sessions the tutor will explain texts and new concepts, provide contextual information and give students the chance to practise close reading. Discussion will also be prompted by the examination of some scholarship (photocopies will be provided by the tutor when needed).
Each student, 1-2 per session, will also be asked to prepare and give a short in-class presentation (c.5 mins) on a relevant topic agreed in advance. These presentations will not be assessed, but are meant to give students space to explore their interests and practise their critical and analytical skills. They will be followed by group discussion.
Learning outcomes
- Be able to place Conrad’s, Woolf’s and Mansfield’s perspectives on colonialism in their historical and literary contexts
- Understand how the colonial theme may be conveyed through narrative and literary devices
- Be able to compare and contrast different views on colonialism in the works studied and construct an argument.
Assessment methods
Only those students who have registered for assessment and accreditation, in advance of the course start date, can submit coursework/assignments for assessment.
Assessment
You will be set two pieces of work for the course. The first of 500 words is due halfway through your course. This does not count towards your final outcome but preparing for it, and the feedback you are given, will help you prepare for your assessed piece of work of 1,500 words due at the end of the course. The assessed work is marked pass or fail.
Level and demands
This is an introductory course and students who are approaching these authors for the first time as well as more experienced readers are all very welcome. Contextual and background information will be provided.
The Department’s Weekly Classes are taught at FHEQ Level 4, ie first year undergraduate level, and you will be expected to engage in a significant amount of private study in preparation for the classes. This may take the form, for instance, of reading and analysing set texts, responding to questions or tasks, or preparing work to present in class.
Course aims
This course aims to enable participants to gain an understanding of how key early-twentieth-century authors were affected by colonialism and explored it in their writing.
Course objectives
By the end of the course, participants will have been given the opportunity to:
- explore three modernist authors’ perspectives on colonialism in their respective contexts
- analyse literary works in the light of the colonial theme
- draw meaningful and well-argued connections between different authors
Programme details
Course starts Monday 28 September 2026
This is an in-person course which requires your attendance at the weekly meetings in Oxford on Mondays, 10.30am-12.30pm.
Week 1: Introduction to early-twentieth-century literature and colonialism
Week 2: Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness 1
Week 3: Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness 2
Week 4: Virginia Woolf’s The Voyage Out 1
Week 5: Virginia Woolf’s The Voyage Out 2
Week 6: Woolf and Conrad: comparing voyages
Week 7: Katherine Mansfield: selected New Zealand stories 1
Week 8: Katherine Mansfield: selected New Zealand stories 2
Week 9: Nature, self and ‘other’ in Conrad, Woolf and Mansfield
Week 10: Conclusions: colonial perspectives between assimilation and critique
Teaching methods
This is an interactive course and students’ own ideas and inputs will be encouraged at all times, through mind-mapping exercises, mini-research prompts and other activities in pairs and as a group. Students will be asked to read the literary works in advance and take some notes on specific passages to prepare for seminar-style discussion. During the sessions the tutor will explain texts and new concepts, provide contextual information and give students the chance to practise close reading. Discussion will also be prompted by the examination of some scholarship (photocopies will be provided by the tutor when needed).
Each student, 1-2 per session, will also be asked to prepare and give a short in-class presentation (c.5 mins) on a relevant topic agreed in advance. These presentations will not be assessed, but are meant to give students space to explore their interests and practise their critical and analytical skills. They will be followed by group discussion.
Learning outcomes
- Be able to place Conrad’s, Woolf’s and Mansfield’s perspectives on colonialism in their historical and literary contexts
- Understand how the colonial theme may be conveyed through narrative and literary devices
- Be able to compare and contrast different views on colonialism in the works studied and construct an argument.
Assessment methods
Only those students who have registered for assessment and accreditation, in advance of the course start date, can submit coursework/assignments for assessment.
Assessment
You will be set two pieces of work for the course. The first of 500 words is due halfway through your course. This does not count towards your final outcome but preparing for it, and the feedback you are given, will help you prepare for your assessed piece of work of 1,500 words due at the end of the course. The assessed work is marked pass or fail.
Dr Mariachiara Leteo
Mariachiara is Departmental Tutor at Oxford Lifelong Learning, where she teaches Virginia Woolf and other modern authors. She has completed her DPhil in English at Oxford on Virginia Woolf’s theory of poetry and the poetic qualities of her novels, set in dialogue with the ideas and work of an Italian modernist writer. Her first monograph, Poetic Effects in the Prose of Virginia Woolf and Emilio Cecchi, is forthcoming, and she regularly writes about literature on her website.
Assessment methods
Only those students who have registered for assessment and accreditation, in advance of the course start date, can submit coursework/assignments for assessment.
Level and demands
This is an introductory course and students who are approaching these authors for the first time as well as more experienced readers are all very welcome. Contextual and background information will be provided.
The Department’s Weekly Classes are taught at FHEQ Level 4, ie first year undergraduate level, and you will be expected to engage in a significant amount of private study in preparation for the classes. This may take the form, for instance, of reading and analysing set texts, responding to questions or tasks, or preparing work to present in class.
Fees
| Description | Costs |
|---|---|
| Course fee (with no assessment) | £315.00 |
| Assessment and Accreditation fee | £60.00 |
How to enrol
Please use the ‘Book now’ button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an enrolment form.
How to register for accreditation and assessment
To be able to submit coursework and to earn credit (CATS points) for this course, if you wish to do so, you will need to register and pay an additional £60 fee. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.
Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process will not be able to do so after the course has begun.
If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education at the Department you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.