Introductory description

EN2C2-30 The English Nineteenth-Century Novel

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

TERM 1: Realisms
In the first term we will firstly consider what the novel is and how, as a concept, it was bound up with ideas of literary and social realism.

TERM 2: “Other” Worlds
In the second term we will consider a variety of “other” literatures – popular, literary, canonical, obscure – that deal with subject matters that appear the antithesis to realism; so the Gothic and Sensational, detective fiction, and adventure. Yet, through an assessment of both contemporary and modern reception and critical approaches, we will interrogate the assumptions surrounding these genres, as well.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of prose-fiction in the context of its nineteenth-century historical, cultural, social, political, economic, religious, scientific and aesthetic context;
• Demonstrate close-reading skills, skills in critical analysis, and the ability to take responsibility for individual reading and learning;
• Demonstrate a critical understanding of nineteenth century literary-works and their differing styles;
• Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between nineteenth-century authors, readers, and critics, and how they helped shape ideas of the purpose and characteristics of the “English novel”.
• Demonstrate an understanding of some of the main critical lenses through which the core texts may be read (i.e. postcolonialism, new historicism, feminism, structuralism);
• To develop written communication skills focused on theoretical and literary material, and the ability to effectively communicate information and arguments.

Subject specific skills

No subject specific skills defined for this module.

Transferable skills

No transferable skills defined for this module.