English 190

Book List

Flaubert, Gustave: A Sentimental Education; Pynchon, Thomas: Mason & Dixon; Scott, Walter: Waverley, or ‘Tis Sixty Years Since; Tolstoy, Leo: War and Peace

Description

A survey of the historical novel.  This course covers a selection of major examples of the genre, focusing on its development in the nineteenth century in Great Britain, France, and Russia, and concluding with a contemporary American representative.  Over the semester we will interrogate these texts from a number of angles: How are individuals situated within the sweep of history?  How do the fictional and historical elements function in relation to one other?  What kinds of authority does each mode possess?  To what extent is anachronism present, and is it ever a virtue?  Students will be expected to read up to 200 pages per week and to write a 20-page research paper.

English 190 replaced English 100 and 150 as of Fall '09. English majors may fulfill the seminar requirement for the major by taking one section of English 190 (or by having taken either English 100 or English 150 before Fall '09). Please read the paragraph on page 2 of the Announcement of Clases for more details about enrolling in or wait-listing for this course.