Module Code - Title:
EH4006
-
VICTORIAN TEXTS AND CONTEXTS
Year Last Offered:
2025/6
Hours Per Week:
Grading Type:
Prerequisite Modules:
Rationale and Purpose of the Module:
This module aims to introduce students to key elements of nineteenth century literatures in English with a specific focus on Victorian and Edwardian texts and contexts. Students will examine a range of literary texts produced in the period and relate them to the political, social and historical circumstances in which they were written.
Syllabus:
Addressing developments in literary practice and form, we will focus initially on the rise of the novel, and will also consider changes in the nature of author and audience during the second half of the nineteenth century. Nineteenth century aesthetic, political and social contexts for the literature will be central to our work and a range of theoretical approaches will be tested in relation to these categories. As part of this endeavour, students taking the module will be asked to participate in a group-based research project.
Learning Outcomes:
Cognitive (Knowledge, Understanding, Application, Analysis, Evaluation, Synthesis)
On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
Identify key texts, forms and themes in Victorian and Edwardian literature.
Analyse the texts under discussion in relation to the aesthetic, political and social contexts in which they were produced.
Assess ways in which these texts have contributed to, and disrupted, constructions of the Victorian period.
Appraise the diverse reactions of literary and other writers to key ideological questions of the period, such as those relating to (e.g. class, imperialism, the woman question etc.)
Critique different theoretical approaches to the study of Victorian and Edwardian literature.
Select relevant primary and secondary readings to produce well-written and well-documented research papers and essays, appropriate to the level of this module.
Affective (Attitudes and Values)
N/A
Psychomotor (Physical Skills)
N/A
How the Module will be Taught and what will be the Learning Experiences of the Students:
The module will be taught by lecture, tutorial discussion, assigned and recommended reading and viewing and by research-based critical material. Students will learn by listening to and engaging with lectures, reading primary and secondary (both assigned and recommended). A significant proportion of this module involves self-directed research project, focusing in some detail on one theme or aspect of Victorian literature and culture.
Projects are worked on in weekly workshops and are graded on individual participation, presentations and a collaborative, written research report.
Research Findings Incorporated in to the Syllabus (If Relevant):
Prime Texts:
Abrams MH (2000)
Norton Anthology of English Literature Volume 2
, London: Norton
Eliot G (1871)
Middlemarch
, London: Blackwood
Ledger and Luckhurst (2000)
The Fin de Siecle: A Reader in Culural History C. 1880-1900
, Oxford: Oxford UP
Other Relevant Texts:
Bratlinger and Thesing (2002)
A Companion to the Victorian Novel
, London: Blackwell
Britsow J (2000)
The Cambridge Companion to Victorian Poetry
, Cambridge: Cambridge UP
Armstrong N (1987)
Desire and Domestic Fiction
, Oxford: Oxford Up
Programme(s) in which this Module is Offered:
Semester(s) Module is Offered:
Module Leader:
jack.fennell@ul.ie