VICTORIAN AND EDWARDIAN WRITING

VICTORIAN AND EDWARDIAN WRITING

Module Level:

Module Leader:

Deniz Greenald

Module Credit Value:

10 Credit Points

Recommended Prior Learning:

None required. It is intended that this module be offered as an elective.

Aims The module aims might be described as follows:

to identify some characteristic features of literary expression in the period 1850-1910

to consider examples of literature against the historical, social and philosophical background of the age
to identify some developments in literary technique and theme and suggest possible causes of these
to develop further individual students skills in reading, understanding, analysis and discussion

Indicative Content

The historical background to the literature of the period, with particular reference to the influence of peace at home, material, scientific and philosophical developments on literature.

Literary features of the age: morality, the rvolt against convention, scientific advancement, religious doubt.

The development of literary form and style in poetry and prose.

Specific Texts:
Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge
Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South
Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim
E.M. Forster, Howards End
Selections from Tennyson, Browning, Arnold, Christina Rossetti, and Hopkins

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the module the student should be able to:

recognise and describe the way that the historical, social and philosophical contexts influence the development of literature
read and discuss texts defining some of the characteristic features of the age
describe and discuss some of the features of style
express their insights clearly, both orally and in writing

Teaching and Learning Strategies

Texta will be studied in blocks of 2-3 weeks. Introductory lectures will provide background information and introduce general themes. These will be followed by seminar work in which students will be given the opportunity to discuss the texts, with direction by the tutor where necessary. The seminars will be a mixture of tutor-led and thoes in which students give presentations. Individual study time will be used for reading text, relevant critical or background material and the preparation of seminar activities.

Assessment Strategies

The module will be assessed by coursework (60%) and examination (40%). Coursework will consist of one 2000 word assignment related to the texts and topics covered on the course. The examination will consist on a single 90 minute unseen paper, in which students will be required to write two essays in response to a range of questions on the texts and topics covered. The students will be asked not to repeat material already submitted. Students will be assessed on their knowledge of the texts studied and their ability to express and support their critical insights. In coursework tutors will look for the ability to identify, select and describe relevant features of specific texts and relate them to general features of the age. In the examination tutors will look for the ability to interpret and express insights.

Bibliography

Required Reading

Anderson, L., Bennett, Wells, Conrad: Narrative In Transition, (Macmillan 1986)

Beer, G., Darwin’s Plots: Evolutionary Narrative In Darwin, George Eliot, Nineteenth Century Fiction, (Routledge, 1983)

Flint, K., The Woman Reader, 1837-1914, (Clarendon, 1993)

Williams, M., A Preface To Hardy, (Macmillan, 1993)

Recommended Reading

Draper, R.P., (ed.), Hardy: The Tragic Novels, (Macmillan, 1991)

Grant, D., Realism (Methuen, 1970)

Greenslade, W.M., Degradation, Culture & The Novel 1880-1940, (CUP, 1994)

Pykett, L., Engendering Fictions: The English Novel in The Early Twentieth Century, (Edward Arnold, 1995)

Reilly, J., Shadowtime:History & Representation In Hardy, Conrad & George Eliot, (Routledge, 1993)

Sanders, A., The Short Oxford History of Literature, (OUP, 1994)

Spencer, J.S., Elizabeth Gaskell, (Macmillan, 1993)

Tallis, R., In Defence of Realism, (Edward Arnold, 1988)

Trodd, A., A Reader’s Guide To Edwardian Literature, (Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1991)

Uglow, J.S., Elizabeth Gaskell: A Habit of Stories, (Faber, 1993)

Wheeler, M., English Fiction of the Victorian Period, 1830-1890, (Longman, 1994)

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