A&H 236 The Rise of the Novel

Content

The course will explore the changing role of literature in 19th-century Britain. Major novels, combined with some poetry, essays and more extensive non-fiction will extend the students’ reading experience. Exploration of the connection between changing ideologies and changing literary readership will forge a better understanding of connections between art and life. The question of how and why certain works of art made their way into the canon will be addressed by considering the life and works of certain literary circles in Victorian England in the perspective of social and historical change. The aim of the course is to set in motion a process of literary socialisation, by reflecting on the comparable process that Victorian readers went through. 

The chosen texts will be discussed in their cultural and historical contexts, and social and artistic conventions will be traced. The validity of the claims for a ‘great tradition’ will be problematised by looking at contemporary and modern criticism, but the emphasis will be on contemporary writing throughout.

Required reading includes a book on the historical and intellectual context in Victorian Britain, and a modern introduction to narrative as a basis for theoretical reflection. The course reader will include contemporary non-fiction, as well as material on the role of literature, economic aspects of the book trade, publishing conventions, etc.

Instructor

Dr. Diederik van Werven

Track

Literary Studies

Period

Fall / 2012

Course Material

• Gilmour, Robin. The Victorian Period: The Intellectual and Cultural Context of English Literature 1830-1890. Harlow: Pearson Education, 1993.
• Porter Abbott, H. The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition, 2008.
• And a varying selection of mainly 19th century novels in English.

Prerequisites

One needs to have followed one of the following courses in order to take this course:

• A&H 135 Great Literary Works
• A&H 136 Introduction to Literary Studies
• ACC 260 English for Academic Purposes (Intermediate)

Additional Prerequisites

One or more of the following: A&H113, A&H142, SSC111, SSC121, SSC131 would give you a better chance of getting in with permission of the instructor.

Required for

This course is an alternative requirement for the following courses:

• A&H 237 Life and Travel Writing
• A&H 336 Critical Perspectives on Literary Meaning
• A&H 337 Film and Text