THE 18th CENTURY NOVEL

Knowledge Deepening / Consolidation

The course is also offered to exchange programme students.

The course looks at the emergence, development, diffusion and popularity of the novel in 18th-century Britain. It examines the formal characteristics that differentiate the novel from earlier forms of prose fiction and the relation between culture and genre, i.e. the novels’ response to changing modes of perception as these were affected by the new philosophy and science, the rise of the middle classes and free trade ideas, the influence of the Press and the taste of new reading publics. Focusing on the work of major canonical writers (Defoe, Fielding, Richardson), we shall examine how their novels relate to such changes in outlook, values and practices, what image of ‘reality’ and ‘human nature’ they construct, and how the novels reflect, respond to or try to resolve the tension between traditional orthodoxies and new developments. Expected learning outcomes: •Acquaintance of the students with the work and literary idiom of major eighteenth-century novelists. •Understanding to what extent the modern novel incorporates elements of earlier forms of fictional narratives and traditions, and to what extent it articulates its own discourse. •Ability to relate the novel to changing modes of perception and see to what extent it functions as an ideological instrument. Recommended Bibliography: as listed on the Course Outline Distribution of Course Outline with thematic units and exam material? YES Distribution of textbook/s: YES Distribution of related bibliography: NO Method of assessment: final exam (in-class essays).

21-06-2018