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43469-01 - Seminar: Landscapes and Literary Tourism in the Lake District (3 CP)
| Semester | spring semester 2016 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Michelle Witen (michelle.witen@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | During the nineteenth century, the Lake District underwent a reappraisal. Defoe's earlier statements about its "barren and frightful" landscape were replaced by Constable and Wordsworth's visions of the district's beauty, sparking a new wave of tourism that corresponded with a rise in interest due to the French Revolution. Over the course of the term, we will examine literature from, in, and about the Lake District in England from the 19th through until the 21st centuries. Motivated by the influence of landscape on literature, we will read the works of authors such as Wordsworth (Dorothy and William), Beatrix Potter, Arthur Ransome, Sir Hugh Walpole, and Richard Adams, with a view to how the works of these authors reflect aspects particular to the Lake District. Noted for its status as a hotbed of literary achievement, we will also study the works of authors who lived and wrote in the Lake District, to see how these elements are also reflected in, for example, Coleridge, De Quincey, Robert Southey, Sir Walter Scott, and John Ruskin. In addition to its residents, we will also study the development of literary tourism in relation to the Lakes. Beginning with early guidebooks, such as Thomas West's "Guide to the Lakes in Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire", Wordsworth's "Guide to the Lakes", Martineau's "A Complete Guide to the English Lakes", and Baddeley's "Thorough Guide to the English Lakes", we will also look at the changing relationship between man and nature. Questioning how the Romantic view of the district differs from the work of, say, Alfred Wainwright and Beatrix Potter, we will move through concepts such as the Romantic sublime, historicism (science, technology, industry, etc.), ecocriticism, post-colonialism, and literary geography. We will also examine the writings of those authors who came to visit the Lakes, like Hawthorne, Dickens and Collins ("Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices"), etc. to contrast visions of literary geography and literary tourism. By the end of the classes, we should be able to answer Elizabeth Bennet's "What are men to rocks and mountains?" and understand fully the rest of her statement - "Oh! What hours of transport we shall spend! And when we do return, it shall not be like other travellers, without being able to give one accurate idea of any thing. We will know where we have gone - we will recollect what we have seen" - as we will then visit and contextualize all of our discussions with an excursion to the Lake District. |
| Learning objectives | Students will continue to develop the methodological tools necessary for the analysis of literary texts. They will also engage with texts first as literary artefacts, and then as products of place, time, history, and culture. The excursion portion of the course also offers a small group of students the opportunity to immerse themselves in British heritage, and a contextualization of the works studied during the term. |
| Bibliography | t.b.a. |
| Weblink | ADAM |
| Admission requirements | This seminar is geared toward MA students and advanced BA students (BA05 students who have completed their proseminar paper in Literary & Cultural studies; BA13 students who have completed ALL three introductory modules incl. proseminar papers). Nevertheless, all English students are welcome to apply, though priority will be given to upper level students. |
| Course application | Students wanting to attend this seminar are requested to write a letter of interest and email it to michelle.witen@unibas.ch by 5pm on January 15. This letter should outline why this topic and/or trip is of particular interest to you, and you should also state your semester, subjects, and level of study. Those who have been selected by the excursion committee will be notified by January 31. The number of participants is restricted to 10. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | Online, mandatory |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|
No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Modul Advanced Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies (Bachelor's degree subject: English) Modul Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies (Master's degree subject: English) Modul English & American Literature (Master's degree subject: English (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) Modul Extending the View (Literary and Cultural Studies) (Bachelor's degree subject: English (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) Modul Focusing on the Discipline (Literary and Cultural Studies) (Bachelor's degree subject: English (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Attendance of all four sessions, active participation, presentations, excursion (dates will fall between Aug 2 - Aug 15), group excursion report |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Englische Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft |