ENH4580

Ireland, Swift, England: special author subject

C Probyn

12 points - 2 hours per week - Second semester - Clayton

Objectives Students successfully completing this subject should have developed a detailed and comprehensive knowledge of a key figure in the literary and political world of eighteenth-century England. In particular, they will have observed the evolution of a manuscript into a print culture in a historical context, and they will also have the opportunity to read the works of Swift in the context of modern literary theory, particularly poststructuralism.

Synopsis This subject offers a detailed study of the works (prose and verse) of Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) in their cultural and political contexts. It includes topics such as Swift's changing political ideologies; paradox and irony as modes of writing; conflict between Irish and English cultural (and economic) contexts, England as colonial 'centre,' and Ireland as 'margin', poetry and misogyny. The subject includes the opportunity to work with original texts in the outstanding Monash Swift Collection.

Assessment Seminar paper (1500 words): 25% - Short essay (2500 words): 25% - Long essay (5000 words): 50%

Prescribed texts

Ross A and Woolley D (eds) Jonathan Swift OUP
Swift J A tale of a tub (any complete, reliable text)
Rogers P (ed.) Jonathan Swift: The complete poems Penguin
Coursebook of secondary and supplementary readings, English Dept, Monash U

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