Dickens and the Victorian Serial Novel: Reading Dickens in Instalments I 3301-LB1028-1ST
Charles Dickens was a serial novelist, writing and publishing his novels in weekly or monthly cliffhanger instalments (usually three or four chapters per monthly number). Such a publication not only made his fiction more affordable, but also heavily shaped his popularity and close relationship with the growing masses of readers. The instalments were published in iconic blue-green covers accompanied by Dickens-supervised illustrations by such eminent artists as George Cruikshank, Hablot Browne, Luke Fildes or John Leech. The course aims to explore the serial reading experience of a selected Dickens novel, serialisation being the dominant publishing practice for the Victorian era. It focuses on a close concentrated reading of Dickensian instalments, providing a deeper understanding of the novelist’s writing process (serial composition) and the historical and social contexts in which his fiction was written. The course aims to change the common perception of Dickens as an author of long daunting books and provide students with a direct sense of a selected text as the Victorian themselves experienced it. One of its primary objectives is to equip students with research ideas which they may want to bring forward into their future academic dissertations. The course also examines the following aspects in connection with the selected text: narrative technique, focalization (point of view), language and style, literary mode and genre, imagery and symbolism, characterisation, recurring themes and motifs, intertextuality, socio-historical context of the text, and its literary and cultural context.
One of the following novels will be studied throughout the course:
"The Pickwick Papers"
"Oliver Twist"
"Nicolas Nickleby"
"The Old Curiosity Shop"
"Barnaby Rudge"
"Martin Chuzzlewit"
"Dombey and Son"
"David Copperfield"
"Bleak House"
"Hard Times"
"Little Dorrit"
"A Tale of Two Cities"
"Great Expectations"
"Our Mutual Friend"
BA programme
Type of course
Mode
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
Knowledge
Students will be able to:
K_W02 understand key terminology, well established methods and theories of literary studies and culture studies within English studies in areas relevant to the course subject.
K_W03 describe methodology and recent developments in English literary studies and culture studies in areas relevant to the course subject.
K_W05 list the characteristics of English grammar, syntax, phonology, phonetics, morphology and pragmatics on an advanced level, especially in areas relevant to the course subject.
K_W07 explain principles of designing literary and culture studies, with special focus on selecting appropriate methods and tools in formulating research questions in areas relevant to the course subject.
Abilities
Students will be able to:
K_U01 employ the terminology and methodological tools from literary studies and culture studies in areas relevant to the course subject.
K_U02 employ the methodology of literary and culture studies within English studies, respecting the ethical norms and copyright law
K_U04 implement knowledge to describe a problem and identify means to solve it, thereby completing a project in literary studies and in culture and religion studies
K_U11 design one’s own development, particularly by the completion of a research project in areas relevant to the course subject
Social competences
Students will be ready to:
K_K02 undertake life-long learning and personal development, applying skills and competences to select subjects and projects optimally suiting one’s personal interests
K_K03 value responsibility for one’s own work and respect the work of others, adhering to the professional and ethical norms in various projects and other activities undertaken at work, voluntary services, etc.
Assessment criteria
—active participation in classes
—two mid-term tests (passing score: 60%)
2 absences are allowed.
Bibliography
Blake, Laurel. “Star Turn? Magazine, Part-Issue, and Book Serialisation.” Victorian Periodicals Review, vol. 34, no. 3 (fall 2001), pp. 208–227.
Casey, Ellen. ‘“That Specially Trying Mode of Publication’: Dickens as Editor of the Weekly Serial,” Victorian Periodicals Review, vol. 14, no. 3 (fall 1981), pp. 93–110.
Sanders, Andrew. Authors in Context: Charles Dickens. OUP, 2003.
Schlicke, Paul. The Oxford Companion to Charles Dickens. OUP, 2011.
Tange, Andrea Kaston. “Becoming a Victorian Reader: The Serial Reading Process in the Modern Classroom,” Victorian Periodicals Review, vol. 39, no. 4 (winter 2006), pp. 330–342.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: