Spring 2006 Courses
English 401-01: A History of the Historical Novel (Çelikkol)
T/TH 10:10-11:40 am, THTR 204
From the late-eighteenth to mid-nineteenth centuries, a peculiar kind of novel captivated the British public: the so-called historical novel. Set in the past and marked by cameo appearances by famous historical personages, these novels promised to transport their readers to bygone worlds. From the middle east of the Crusades to medieval Scotland, the settings featured in these novels stood in stark contrast to the modernized industrial U.K. of the nineteenth century.
In this course, we will trace the emergence and development of the historical novel in Britain. Why did the genre appear when it did? How was it invented? Why did it have such wide appeal? How did evolving senses of time motivate the urge to contemplate the past? These are some of the questions we will address as we read novels by Sydney Owenson, Maria Edgeworth, Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, and Wilkie Collins. Our class discussions and student presentations will focus on topics such as
- The historical novel’s literary kinship with the gothic
- Anxieties about the prominence of women historical novelists
- Nationhood and the historical novel
- Storytelling and the writing of history
- Victorian senses of belatedness
Students in this seminar should be prepared to read a considerable amount of literary theory and criticism by Georg Lukács, Katie Trumpener, Ina Ferris, and others. Students will turn in response papers on a regular basis, prepare a formal oral presentation, and write and revise a long paper.
Spring 2006 Course Listings
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