• Ghose Indira
• Schindler Kilian Markus

• Ghose Indira
• Schindler Kilian Markus

In this proseminar we will be looking at the rich diversity of English literature in the 1890s. Aspects we will be considering are the following: Aestheticism and Decadence, degeneration, the metropolis, the 'New Woman', and imperialism. The texts we will be reading in class are Oscar Wilde's novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and his play, The Importance of Being Earnest, Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkenss, as well a handful of short stories and poems from this period. The focus of the course will be on close reading of the texts as embedded in their historical context.

Credit requirements are regular attendance, active participation, class presentations, and an end of term paper of 3000 words. More than two unexcused absences disqualify students from gaining credit.

The number of students in this course is limited to twenty. Only the first twenty students to register will be accepted as participants.

On successful completion of the course, students will have gained in-depth knowledge of a range of texts from fin de siècle England. They will have acquired the critical and theoretical vocabulary with which to approach and analyse nineteenth century novels, plays, and poems. They will have engaged in close reading of the texts and will have participated in class discussions. They will have learned to critically evaluate texts in the form of a research paper, using reasoned argumentation to articulate their ideas.

Required editions of the texts are:

Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness and Other Tales, ed. Cedric Watts, Oxford World's Classics (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002)

Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and Other Tales, ed. Roger Luckhurst, Oxford World’s Classics (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008)

Oscar Wilde, The Major Works, ed. Isobel Murray, Oxford World’s Classics, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008)

The short stories and poems we will be discussing in class will be made available on Moodle.

Please note: only scholary print editions are acceptable. Online versions will not be accepted in class.