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| Semester | spring semester 2012 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Ladina Bezzola Lambert (ladina.bezzola@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | The term 'Augustan age' is broadly applied to British literature of the first half of the eighteenth century, 'Augustan' deriving from King George I's wish to be seen as Augustus Caesar, but painfully failing to live up to his Roman model. The elements of grandeur and embarrassing self-exposure may be seen to characterize in a nutshell an age that revered and imitated the famous writers of the classical 'Augustan age' (such as the Roman satirists Horace and Juvenal), but also strove to define its own identity and values by going beyond such models, and that became painfully aware of the dangers of striving too much. In terms of literary production, it proved a most fertile age, in which nostalgia was balanced with the satirist's ruthless wit. In the rapidly growing London metropolis with its fierce political, moral, religious, and aesthetic debates, the commercialization of print gave rise to an exuberant, predominantly male scene of writing, but one in which women started to play an increasingly prominent role as salonnières, opera singers, actresses, and as writers in their own right. The literary protagonists - Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, Lady Mary Wortley Montague, Henry Fielding, John Gay, to name the most prominent ones - typically wrote in counterpoint and direct expansion of one another, thus creating a heated dialogue of sharp repartee in which the private and the political were always synonymous. It was this parodic, satiric, and sentimental culture that gave rise to the English novel. In this seminar, we will attempt to reanimate a particularly engaging moment in British literary and cultural history in its different facets with texts including verse satire, novels, drama, opera. |
| Learning objectives | Students will become familiar with an important episode in English literary history in its broader cultural contexts. They will develop their competence in reading verse and learn about the development of the novel in connection with different critical approaches. |
| Bibliography | Jonathan Swift, "Gulliver's Travels" (Penguin: ISBN-13: 978-0141439495); Jonathan Swift, "A Tale of a Tub and other Works" (Oxford World's Classics: ISBN-13: 978-0199549788); Samuel Richardson, "Pamela, Or Virtue Rewarded" (Penguin: ISBN-13: 978-0140431407); Henry Fielding, "Joseph Andrews and Shamela" (Oxford World's Classics: ISBN-13: 978-0199536986); "The Norton Anthology of English Literature", vol. 1 (7th or 8th ed.; ISBN: 978-0-393-91247-0). These books have been ordered at "Labyrinth" bookstore. Additional primary and secondary texts will be made available on the course server (ISIS). |
| Comments | In order to have enough time for the weekly reading assignments, students are advised to read the longer works in advance: beginning with Swift, "Gulliver's Travels" and "A Tale of a Tub", moving on to Richardson, "Pamela" (in preparation for Fielding) and Fielding, "Shamela" (short text) and "Joseph Andrews". In preparation for the first meeting, students should read John Dryden's verse satire "Mac Flecknoe" (included in the Norton Anthology). |
| Weblink | ISIS |
| Admission requirements | This course is open to all students who have successfully completed their 2nd year (including the paper). |
| Course application | Please register by email to ladina.bezzola@unibas.ch. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | Online, mandatory |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
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No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Modul English & American Literature (Master's degree subject: English) Modul Extending the View (Literary and Cultural Studies) (Bachelor's degree subject: Englisch) Modul Focusing on the Discipline (Literary and Cultural Studies) (Bachelor's degree subject: Englisch) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | t.b.a. |
| 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 |