This course offers an overview of the English literary traditions from the late sixteenth to the twentieth century, aiming at carving out the major formal and thematic elements of the respective literary periods.
Discussion in class will be based on the reading of excerpts of one play (William Shakespeare’s Macbeth), a novel (Oliver Goldsmith’s The Vicar of Wakefield), two prose texts (Virginia Woolf’s “Kew Gardens” and Katherine Mansfield's "Bliss") and selected poetry. Studying these texts will allow us to consider not only the relevant cultural and socio-political background, but also the set of analytical tools essential for examining any literary text.
Students are expected to have read the texts prior to the beginning of the course. There will be a reading test. The novel excepted (see bibliographical information below), the material will be made available via Studip.
Editions:
Oliver Goldsmith. The Vicar of Wakefield. Arthur Friedman and Robert L. Mack (eds.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
