Rise of the Novel
The British novel as we know it began to emerge in the eighteenth century. But in its formative years, the novel was not yet a settled form or a coherent literary genre; it encompassed a staggering variety of competing strategies for fictional storytelling—some still in use today, others now largely abandoned. We'll discuss a representative sampling of these early novels: their authors' treatments of plot and character, experiments with structure, and movements toward (or total lack of interest in) formal realism.
Texts
The reading load in this course is demanding; consider carefully before committing to any other courses with heavy reading.
In the most recent version of the class, we read:
- Aphra Behn, Oroonoko (1688)
- Samuel Richardson, Pamela (1740)
- Henry Fielding, Joseph Andrews (1742)
- Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto (1764)
- Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy (1760-1767)
- Frances Burney, Evelina (1778)
- Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1796/1813)
In future semesters we'll probably read Tom Jones rather than Joseph Andrews (even though it's twice as long) because... well, partly because it's widely regarded as one of the most perfectly plotted novels ever written, but mostly because it's funnier.
Assignments
Class members will write two 6-10 page formal papers for this course. A draft and a meeting with me are required for the first paper and encouraged for the second paper. In addition, there will be three short (2-3 pages) and relatively informal response papers, each responding to a different novel.
last updated: Wednesday, 26-Aug-2009 10:36:18 CDT