Module description
'I am no novel reader - I seldom look into novels - Do not imagine that I often read novels - It is really very well for a novel.' - Such is the common cant. - 'And what are reading, Miss - ?' 'Oh! It is only a novel!' replies the young lady; while she lays down her book with affected indifference, or momentary shame. - 'It is only Cecilia, or Camilla, or Belinda;' or, in short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour are conveyed to the world in the best chosen language.' - Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey, 1797.
As Austen's defence suggests, the novel has always been a source of critical debate and even social anxiety. This module introduces students to a range of significant fiction from early in the 18th century to the early 19th century. Themes for discussion might include: the origins of the novel; the relationship of the novel to other genres (newspapers, letters, political pamphlets, graphic satire); the central role of women authors in shaping the novel; the moral and religious aspects of the genre; the relationship of the novel to contemporary theories of personality, sympathy, affection and identity. Students will read a range of important novels from the period and will be encouraged to explore the wide range of secondary literature on the novel.
Assessment details
Three-hour exam (100%)
Teaching pattern
One 1-hour lecture and one 1-hour seminar per week
Suggested reading list
You are advised to undertake as much primary reading as possible in the summer before the course, particularly the longer novels that are indicated by an asterisk in the following list:
Aphra Behn, Oroonoko (1688)
Daniel Defoe, Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress (1724)*
Eliza Haywood, Fantomina (1725) [included in coursepack]
Samuel Richardson, Pamela (1740)*
Henry Fielding, Joseph Andrews (1742)*
Charlotte Lennox, The Female Quixote (1752)*
Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy (1759-67), Books I and II
William Beckford, Vathek (1786-7)
Jane Austen, Persuasion (1818)
We will begin with our week on Behn's Oroonoko, so please also ensure that you have read this in advance of the start of the course. You may use any edition of the texts available to you, including Project Gutenberg free editions for Kindle / iPad; but for preference, use an edited scholarly edition (for instance, Penguin, Norton or Oxford World’s Classics). The full text of Haywood’s Fantomina (Week 3) will be included in the coursepack for your convenience, but you may also obtain a scholarly edition (for instance, the 2004 Broadview edition) if you would find this helpful.