English 125C

Other Readings and Media

Scott, W.: Waverley, or ?Tis Sixty Years Since; Hugo, V.: Notre Dame de Paris; Dickens, C.: A Tale of Two Cities; Tolstoy, L.: War and Peace

Description

Focusing on key texts from English, French, and Russian traditions, this course examines how the genre of the novel approaches and appropriates historical material as well as reflects its own particular historical contexts. We will consider four major European novels from the nineteenth century, a ?golden age? of the novel in Europe and a period in which history and historical writing also came to dominate European intellectual discussions. The course encourages a range of critical approaches, from close reading, the theory of the novel and genre theory, to historicist and biographical inquiry. Course requirements include reading 150-200 pages per week, attending occasional film screenings, 3 short response papers, a longer final paper, a midterm and a final exam.