Close Reading of a Major English Text: Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens 3301-LB1015
The aim of the course is to contextualise "Oliver Twist" within the political, social and economic concerns of its time to enable the modern reader to better appreciate the comic and political nuances of this Dickens novel. Students will explore such issues as juvenile crime in the 19th century and how Dickens constructs childhood and family within the context of "Oliver Twist." The novel will be also discussed in conjunction with the Victorian Gothic, the Newgate novel, the silver-fork novel, melodrama, the comedy of manners and the picaresque novel. Students will examine the novel as one of Dickens’s popular performance fictions and discuss selected theatrical and movie adaptations of "Oliver Twist", for example David Lean's 1948 British film, Carol Reed's 1968 film based on Lionel Bart's musical "Oliver!", or extracts from Miriam Margolyes's one-woman show about Dickens's women. Apart from the above, the following issues will be discussed throughout the course:
- the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834
- Utilitarianism
- the Victorian workhouse
- funeral mutes
- London Metropolitan Police in 1830s
- Bow Street Runners
- the police magistrate
- the pastoral in "Oliver Twist"
- the Newgate Calendar and the Newgate novel
- early critical reception of the novel
- modern criticism
- Dickens's "streaky-bacon" narrative technique
- the parochial beadle
- London of 1830s in the novel
- symbolism, imagery, allegory in the novel
- Victorian prostitution
- "Oliver Twist" and conduct books
- "Oliver Twist" and the Gothic tradition
- Victorian realism
- Dickens and medicine
- "Oliver Twist" as Dickens's performance fiction
Second-cycle studies (Master's degree programme)
Type of course
elective courses
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
Knowledge
Students will be able to:
K_W01 identify and characterize on an advanced level the place and status of literary and culture studies within the humanities
K_W02 describe on an advanced level the current trends in literary and cultural studies research within English studies, particularly in areas relevant to the course subject
K_W04 characterize on an advanced level the principles of research design in literary and culture studies with special focus on the application of methods and tools in formulating research problems, especially in areas relevant to the course subject
K_W05 identify the notions and principles pertinent to intellectual property and copyright
Abilities
Students will be able to:
K_U01 apply advanced terminology and notions pertinent to the discipline of literary studies, culture and religion studies
K_U02 apply advanced research methodology within literary and culture studies and English studies, respecting ethical norms and copyright law.
K_U03 apply knowledge obtained during the course to account for and solve a problem, thereby completing a research task related to the discipline literary studies and/or culture and religion studies
K_U04 analyse literary and cultural phenomena and draw generalizations on their basis in the context of societal, historical and economic factors on an advanced level
K_U05 discern alternative methodological paradigms within the discipline of literary studies, culture and religion studies
K_U06 find information in various sources and critically assess its usefulness for research related to the topic of the MA project
Social competences
Students will be ready to:
K_K02 apply knowledge and skills obtained during the course to undertake lifelong learning, as well as personal and professional development
K_K03 take responsibility for performing one’s professional duties, with due respect for the work of others, obey and develop the ethical norms in professional and academic settings related to the disciplines included on the curriculum of English studies
K_K04 assess critically one’s own knowledge and skills related to the course
K_K06 value cultural heritage and cultural diversity as well as individual opinions
Assessment criteria
Your final grade will depend on:
- active participation in classes
- two mid-term tests (passing score: 60%)
Allowable absences: 2
Students who fail an exam may write it again during the resit examination session.
Bibliography
Selected sources:
Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. Penguin Books, 2003.
Dickens, Charles. The Story of Little Dombey and Other Performance Fictions. Broadview Press, 2013.
Paroissien, David. The Companion to Oliver Twist. Edinburgh University Press, 1992.
John, Juliet, ed. Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist. A Sourcebook. Routledge, 2006.
Schlicke, Paul, ed. The Oxford Companion to Charles Dickens. OUP, 2011.
Patten, Robert and John O. Jordan, Catherine Waters, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Charles Dickens. OUP, 2018.
Charles Dickens Museum. https://dickensmuseum.com
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: