Eighteenth-Century British Novel in Cultural Contexts

elective courses

Classroom

The course aims to cover key texts and topics related to 18th century British novel, including the development of the novel and popularization of print (male authors and female authors, the evolution of novel genres), philosophies of the Enlightenment (philosophical tales), literary culture of London (theater, literary clubs), social issues and the portrayal of London in satirical works, the social situation of women and early feminism, colonialism and slavery, travel writing and journey as a literary motif, and social class, freedom and eighteenth-century revolutions. The course focuses on combining the analysis of cultural texts with the study of cultural and social contexts as well as the perception of relations between texts (influence, adaptation, allusion, parody, polemics).

The course aims to cover key texts and topics related to 18th century British novel, including development of the novel and popularization of print (male authors (e.g. D. Defoe, J. Swift, H. Fielding, S. Johnson, L. Sterne) and female authors (e.g. A. Behn, Ch. Lennox, M. Edgeworth, F. Burney, J. Austen), the evolution of novel genres, including picaresque and comic novels, Gothic and sentimental novels), philosophies of the Enlightenment (philosophical tales), literary culture of London (theater, literary clubs – the Scriblerus Club, Bluestockings), social issues (crime, poverty, prostitution) and the portrayal of London in satirical works (including in painting and caricature, for instance W. Hogarth), the social situation of women and early feminism, colonialism and slavery, travel writing and journey as a literary motif, the Enlightenment and eighteenth-century revolutions. The course focuses on combining the analysis of cultural texts with the study of historical and social contexts as well as discussing relations between texts and the analysis of different forms of intertextuality (influence, adaptation, allusion, parody, polemics

A. Eighteenth-Century Texts (Core and Selected Additional Reading)

1. The rise of the novel – overview of key authors and the genres/techniques

- Defoe, Daniel. Moll Flanders

- Richardson, Samuel. Pamela

- Fielding, Henry. Tom Jones

- Walpole, Horace. The Castle of Otranto

2. Experiments, irony and philosophical themes

- Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver’s Travels (Book IV)

- Sterne, Lawrence. Tristram Shandy (Volumes I-II)

- Johnson, Samuel. Rasselas

3. Society / sentiment and sympathy

- Goldsmith, Oliver. The Vicar of Wakefield

- Sterne, Lawrence. Sentimental Journey

- Mackenzie, Henry. The Man of Feeling

- Godwin, William. Caleb Williams

4. Gender and marriage / manners and morality

- Lennox, Charlotte. The Female Quixote

- Radcliffe, Ann. The Mysteries of Udolpho

- Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (excerpts)

- Edgeworth, Maria. Belinda (excerpts)

- Austen, Jane. Northanger Abbey

5. Travel/ adventure /colonialism and slavery

- Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe

- Behn, Aphra, Oroonoko, or the Royal Slave

- Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African (excerpts)

B. Critical Sources / Anthologies

(2005) A Companion to the Eighteenth Century Novel and Culture. Paula R. Backscheider and Catherine Ingrassia (ed.) Blackwell.

(2009) The Eighteenth-Century Literature Handbook. Gary Day and Bridget Keegan (ed.) Continuum.

(2002) The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction. Jerrold E. Hogle (ed.) Cambridge UP.

Armstrong, Nancy (1987) Desire and Domestic Fiction: A Political History of the Novel. Blackwell.

Barker-Benfield, G. J. (1996) The Culture of Sensibility. Sex and Society in Eighteenth-Century Britain. The University of Chicago Press.

Brewer, John (1997) The Pleasures of the Imagination. English Culture in the Eighteenth Century. Harper Collins.

Colley, Linda (1992) Britons: Forging the Nation 1701-1837. Yale UP.

Hammond, Bran and Shaun Regan (2006) Making the Novel. Fiction and Society in Britain, 1660-1780. Palgrave.

London, April (2012). The Cambridge Introduction to the Eighteenth-Century Novel. Cambridge UP.

McKeon, Michael. (2002) The Origins of the English Novel 1600-1740. The Johns Hopkins UP.

Rawson, Claude. (2000) Satire and Sentiment 1660-1830. Yale UP.

Sussman, Charlotte. (2012) Eighteenth-Century English Literature. Polity.

Watt, Ian. (1957) The Rise of the Novel. Studies in Defoe, Richardson and Fielding. University of California Press.

Full list will be provided to course participants.

Knowledge

Students will be able to:

K_W01 Identify and characterize on an advanced level the place and status of literary studies within the humanities

K_W02 Describe on an advanced level the current trends in literary and cultural studies research on the history of the English novel within English studies

K_W04 Characterize on an advanced level the principles of research design in literary studies with special focus on the application of methods and tools in formulating research problems

K_W05 Identify the notions and principles pertinent to intellectual property and copyright

Abilities

Students will be able to:

K_U01 Apply advanced terminology and notions pertinent to the discipline (literary studies and cultural studies with reference to eighteenth-century British literature)

K_U02 Apply advanced research methodology within literary and culture studies and English studies, respecting ethical norms and copyright law

K_U03 Apply knowledge obtained during the course of studies to account for and solve a problem, thereby completing a research task related to the discipline of literary studies and the field of eighteenth-century British literature

K_U04 Analyze eighteenth-century literary and cultural phenomena and draw generalizations on their basis in the context of societal, historical and economic factors on an advanced level

K_U05 Discern alternative methodological paradigms within a discipline

K_U06 Find information in various sources and critically assess its usefulness for research related to the topic of the MA project

Social competences

Students will be ready to:

K_K02 Apply knowledge and skills obtained during the course of studies to undertake lifelong learning, as well as personal and professional development

K_K03 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 related to the disciplines included on the curriculum of English studies

K_K04 Assess critically one’s own knowledge and skills related to the studies

K_K06 Value cultural heritage and cultural diversity as well as individual opinions

Final grade based on assessment for:

- attendance

- participation in discussions

- presentation

- term paper (final essay)