Victorian London and its People in a Neo-Victorian Setting

elective courses

MA elective course

Students registering for the course already have knowledge of the crucial historical, cultural and literary events of the Victorian era.

Knowledge of the material presented on the "Introduction to the Culture of the 19th Century" would be beneficial.

Please note that each student should have a copy of the book.

Library catalogue: https://chamo.buw.uw.edu.pl/search/query?term_1=the+crimson+petal+and+the+white&theme=system

Classroom

The aim of the course is to compare the historic nineteenth-century London and its people to their Neo-Victorian image. The subjects discussed include the division of the city into poor and affluent districts, social classes, professions, the importance of family and self-help, as well as social, moral and religious issues.

The Neo-Victorian point of reference is Michel Faber's novel "The Crimson Petal and the White" (2002) and its TV adaptation (2011).

The interdisciplinary approach will combine the elements of culture, literature, film, history, or geography studies.

The aim of the course is to compare the historic nineteenth-century London and its people to their Neo-Victorian image. The Neo-Victorian point of reference is Michel Faber's novel "The Crimson Petal and the White" (2002) and its TV adaptation (2011).

The subjects discussed include the division of the city into poor and affluent districts, social classes, professions, the importance of family and self-help, as well as social, moral and religious issues.

The course is divided into three parts: introduction, the comparison of the novel to the historic London and its people, and conclusions.

The first part presents a brief history of London, its development during the nineteenth century, the condition of the Victorian society, and typical characteristics of Neo-Victorianism as a genre. It provides background information and gives time to read the novel.

The main part of the course is devoted to the analysis of the novel and the comparison of the image of the Victorian London and society presented by Faber and the BBC series to the one from the nineteenth-century sources: pictures, photos, and maps, supplemented by selected secondary sources.

The last part focuses on the similarities and differences between the historic and Neo-Victorian city and its people. Depending on class dynamics, other Victorian and Neo-Victorian texts may be discussed, e.g. Alan Moore's From Hell.

The interdisciplinary approach combines the elements of culture, literature, film, history, or geography studies.

PRIMARY SOURCES:

Faber, Michel. The Crimson Petal and the White. Canongate Books, 2002

Munden, Mark (dir.) The Crimson Petal and the White. Origin Pictures, 2011

VISUAL MATERIALS:

Booth, Charles. Maps Descriptive of London Poverty. [1888] http://booth.lse.ac.uk/static/a/4.html

Bradshaw's Illustrated Hand Book to London and its Environs. [1861] Conway, 2012

Ford, Colin, Brian Harrison. A Hundred Years Ago. Britain in the 1880s in Words and Photographs. Bloomsbury Books, 1994

Gordon, Colin. By Gaslight in Winter. A Victorian Family History through the Magic Lantern. Elm Tree Books, 1980

Paxman, Jeremy. The Victorians: Britain Through the Paintings of the Age. BBC Books, 2009

Paxman, Jeremy (pres.). The Victorians - Their Story In Pictures. BBC, 2009

Victorian Life in Photographs. Thames and Hudson, 1974

SECONDARY SOURCES (the most relevant fragments will be selected):

Ackroyd, Peter. London. The Biography. Vintage Books, 2001

-----. London Under. Chatto & Windus, 2011

Arnold, Catherine. Bedlam. London and Its Mad. Simon & Schuster, 2008

The Duties of Servants. A Practical Guide to the Routine of Domestic Service. [1894] Copper Beech Publishing Ltd. 1993

Garwood, Christine. Mid-Victorian Britain, 1850-89. Shire Living Histories, 2011

Golby, J. M. (ed.) Culture & Society in Britain, 1850-1890. A Sourcebook of Contemporary Writings. Oxford University Press, 1986

Hadley, Louisa. Neo-Victorian Fiction and Historical Narrative. The Victorians and Us. Palgrave Macmillan, 2010

Halliday, Stephen. The Great Filth. Disease, Death & the Victorian City. The History Press, 2011

Heilmann, Ann, Mark Llewellyn. Neo-Victorianism. The Victorians in the Twenty-First Century, 1999-2001. Palgrave Macmillan, 2010

Langland, Elizabeth. Nobody's Angels. Middle-Class Women and Domestic Ideology in Victorian Culture. Cornell University Press, 1995

Maunder, Andrew, Grace Moore. Victorian Crime, Madness and Sensation. Ashgate, 2004

May, Trevor. The Victorian Domestic Servant. Shire Publications, 2011

Mayhew, Henry. London Labour and the London Poor. [1861] http://books.google.pl/books/about/London_labour_and_the_London poor html?id=G4oBAAAAQAAJ&redir_esc=y

Mitchell, Sally. Daily Life in Victorian England. Greenwood Press, 1996

Paterson, Michael. Inside Dickens' London. David & Charles, 2011

Picard, Liza. Victorian London. The Life of a City 1840-1870. Phoenix, 2005

Tosh, John. A Man's Place. Masculinity and the Middle-Class Home in Victorian England. Yale University Press, 1999

Tucker, Herbert F. (ed.) A Companion to Victorian Literature & Culture. Blackwell Publishing, 1999

Yorke, Trevor. The Victorian House Explained. Countryside Books, 2005

Students enrolled before 2022/2023

KNOWLEDGE

Students will have

- acquired the knowledge of the nineteenth-century London and the divisions within the Victorian society

- greater awareness of the importance of cultural symbols and their role in interpreting works of culture, including popular culture,

- broader knowledge of the terminology used in Cultural Studies, with particular emphasis on their use in the field of English Studies.

SKILLS

Students will

- be able to present the cultural context of the source texts

- be able to present the issues of the division and development of the city and its people

- be able to compare the historic and the Neo-Victorian image and explain the reasons behind the similarities and differences

- be able to employ in his research the terms used in literary and cultural studies

- have learned and practiced vocabulary used in academic discourse while discussing Neo-Victorianism

- be able to present the acquired knowledge in a logical, clear and concise manner.

3. SOCIAL COMPETENCE

Students

- feel responsible for their work and respect the work of others,

- have the need to express themselves in a precise, logical way in order to communicate effectively.

Education at language level B2+.

In class discussions students acquire skills of expressing their thoughts in a clear, coherent, logical and precise manner, with the use of language which is correct grammatically, lexically and phonetically.

__________

Students enrolled in 2022/2023

Knowledge - Students will be able to:

• identify and characterize on an advanced level the place and status of adaptation studies (K_W01)

• describe on an advanced level the current trends in adaptation studies (K_W02)

• characterise on an advanced level the principles of research design in adaptation studies with special focus on the application of methods and tools in formulating research problems (K_W04)

• identify the notions and principles pertinent to intellectual property and copyright (K_W05)

Abilities - Students will be able to:

• apply advanced terminology and notions pertinent to adaptation studies (K_U01)

• apply advanced research methodology within adaptation studies, respecting ethical norms and copyright law (K_U02)

• apply knowledge obtained during the course to account for and solve a problem, thereby completing a research task related to literary studies or adaptation studies (K_U03)

• analyse literary and cultural phenomena and draw generalizations on their basis in the context of societal and historical factors on an advanced level (K_U04)

• discern alternative methodological paradigms within adaptation studies (K_U05)

• find information in various sources and critically assess its usefulness for research (K_U06)

Social competences - Students will be ready to:

• apply knowledge and skills obtained during the course to undertake lifelong learning, as well as personal and professional development (K_K02)

• take responsibility for performing one’s professional duties, with due respect for the work of others, obey and develop the ethical norms in professional and academic settings (K_K03)

• assess critically one’s own knowledge and skills related to the course (K_K04)

• value cultural heritage and cultural diversity as well as individual opinions (K_K06)

Attendance, preparation for the classes, participation in discussions, presentation (50% of the final mark); oral exam (50% of the final mark): questions on London, Victorian society and their Neo-Victorian image. Students are expected to be familiar with both the texts and the visuals.

Retake exam has the same format as the exam.

Two absences are allowed.