The English Novel: 19th-Century

ENL 3122 The English Novel: 19th Century

Section: 17A9
Class Meetings: MWF 4 (Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays 10:40-11:30 AM)
Location: TURL 2346 (Turlington Hall)
Syllabus: Click here to view/download

The Unreal British Novel

This course will cover key developments in nineteenth-century British novels, considering their historical, literary-historical, and critical contexts. Such novels serve as documents of their writers’ attempts to explore and comment on the major cultural conditions of their day, many of which persist in our own culture. These include gender roles and relationships, poverty and welfare, economic and political systems, international relations, scientific and technological advances, and the nature and purpose of art.

Although the novel emerged as a comparatively “realistic” form, many nineteenth-century novels incorporate supernatural and speculative elements, which provide powerful metaphors for cultural and historical conditions. The selection of texts we will read (including Gothic and proto-science fiction) will allow us to identify and explore how the “unreal” expresses the “real” in nineteenth-century British fiction.

This reading-intensive course will require students to engage in research and to apply critical frameworks. Where possible, we will read novels through digital archives of first or early editions to reveal a greater view of their cultural and material contexts. Major assignments include a short paper, a long paper, a short group presentation, and a creative project.