Module description
This module focuses on a crucial phase in the history of the modern novel: the European eighteenth century. We will read a selection of English, French, and German novels in order to trace the development of the novel form and its modifications in the course of the century. We will discuss structural, thematic, and stylistic aspects of each novel, while also identifying recurring elements and common aspects across different texts. This module has no language requirement, but students with knowledge of French, German, and Italian will be encouraged to read texts in the original language.
Presentations are a vital formative part of participation in the module. Their main roles are: (a) to practice oral skills; (b) to help prepare for essays and gain feedback from your peers and academic staff; (c) last but not least, to stimulate further discussion. Presentations should be 5-7 minutes long (max.!), undertaken individually, and will usually focus on one question from the list of weekly questions in the Module Handbook.
Assessment details
2 x 1,000 word essays (each worth 50%)
Teaching pattern
1 x 1-hour lecture and 1 x 1-hour seminar weekly
Suggested reading list
The following novels are the primary texts for the modules:
- Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (Oxford World Classics) Oxford: OUP, 2008.
- Abbé Prévost, Manon Lescaut, translated by Angela Scholar, (Oxford World Classics) OUP, 2004.
- Samuel Johnson, The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia, (Oxford World Classics) OUP, 2009.
- Denis Diderot, The Nun [La réligieuse], translated by Russell Goulbourne, (Oxford World Classics) OUP, 2008.
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther [Die Leiden des jungen Werthers] translated by David Constantine, (Oxford World Classics) OUP, 2012.
- Ann Radcliffe, The Italian, (Oxford World Classics) OUP, 2017.
- Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, (Oxford World Classics) OUP, 2008.