English Literature - Lecture 3301-L1ENLITW2
The lectures run parallel to weekly classes in which some of the key works of English literature are read and discussed. While the classes are built around readings and discussions of selected texts, the lectures are intended to provide a broader background to those readings and discussions. At the same time, the lectures aim at filling the gaps created by the necessarily selective syllabus of the classes by concentrating on those areas of British literature which are not covered there. by elucidating the literary currents, conventions, topoi, types of heroes, and writing styles, as well as the key cultural concepts and developments pertaining to each historical period (e.g. the theory of the sublime, Darwinism, psychoanalysis). The lectures focus on the rise and development of the novel and its consequences for literature and culture and the fluid and evolutionary development of formative ideas in the changing literary periods from the Georgian sensibility and the rise of the Gothic esthetics, Romanticism, realism and naturalism, the role of periodicals and serialized publication, the development of popular culture, up to the great changes brought about by both World Wars and the decline and fall of the British Empire in the 20th century; modernism, psychoanalysis, postmodernism, postcolonialism.
Type of course
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
Knowledge
The graduate has familiarity with:
K_W04 at an advanced level, the general characteristics of principal literary periods and works of English literature from 1714, as well as the full names of the key writers and the titles and literary features of their representative works
in connection with historical and cultural processes, at an advanced level
Abilities
The graduate is able to:
K_U04 link the principal literary works and authors with the pertinent periods, and connect the overall character of literature (e. g. poetry, various sub-genres of the novel) with historical and cultural processes (e.g. the rise of the middle class, Darwinism, feminism, world wars and the rise and fall of the British Empire, colonialism and postcolonialism, the fantastic, new media).
Social competences
The graduate is ready to:
K_K01 critically appraise their knowledge and content obtained from various sources.
Assessment criteria
Written test (verified learning outcomes: W, U)
The form of the retake to be decided by the lecturer; eg. written or oral test (verified learning outcomes: W, U)
Bibliography
A selection of chapters from: Michael Aleksander A History of English Literature, Macmillan 2013 (or earlier edition)
Pat Rogers The Oxford Illustrated History of English Literature, Oxford 2001 (or earlier edition)
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: