ENH2030

Rewriting Victorian Narratives: Origins and Oblivion

(ART)

H Scutter

6 points + 2.5 hours per week + Second semester + Clayton + Prerequisites: A first-year sequence in English, Literary Studies or Cultural Studies or permission + Prohibition: ENH3030

Synopsis: This subject explores, through a variety of mainstream and marginalised texts, some of the major intellectual and social issues of the nineteenth century, including Darwinian narratives of origins and oblivion, notions of history and historicity, the progress myth, industrialisation and urbanisation, changing political paradigms, social unrest and dissent, class mobility, the rights of women, redefinitions of childhood, the rise of science and the decline of religious faith. We will ask, as texts are situated within specific historic and cultural contexts, what lies beyond the pale, excluded from text and context.

Assessment: Essay (2250 words): 50% + Test (2250 words): 50%