ENGL 90324 - The Novel: Characters and New Light

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

English

Description:

This course will be a study of the Novel as a genre. Centering on literature of the 18th and 19th century, it will also take us further afield, beginning with two ancient novels, and taking in en route the first volume of the Chinese Qing dynasty novel (c. 1750) by Cao Xueqin, The Story of the Stone (aka The Dream of the Red Chamber). The complexities involved in conceiving of human beings as definable by "objective" or "subjective: attributes and actions will be closely examined, as well as various developments of narrative techniques to create or express "inwardness" (including the personality of a narrator)-- or the repudiation of any such "inwardness". In pursuit of the concept of "character" we shall look at passages of history, including Suetonius' "Life of Nero" in The Twelve Caesars, and excerpts from Foxe's Book of Martyrs. The creation of type-character will be explored, beginning with Theophrastus' Characters. The magpie Novel notoriously adopts and adapts themes and techniques adopted from other genres, so we shall also look at a couple of plays (one by Euripides, one by Shakespeare), and at some satiric and lyric poems (Sappho, Horace, Petrarch). Novels, though often dismissed as mere reflecting mirrors of manners, have also shaped the way we look at the world, offering new ideas of what we call "consciousness" and proposing new views of what we call "human rights". Some of the antagonism raised by the Novel through various eras may arise from suspicion that any individual novel contains some seeds of enlightenment (religious and/or secular), and delivers concealed messages about change. In the 18th century awareness of this possibility apparently arouses both enthusiasm for novels and condemnation of them-- and of new genres like "Gothic fiction." Major novels: Petronius, Satyricon; Heliodorus, Aithiopika (Ethiopian History);Cervantes, Persiles and Sigismunda; Anon.[ comte de Guilleragues attrib.], Les Lettres Portugaises ( Portuguese Letters); Cao, The Story of the Stone (Vol. I); Fielding, Tom Jones; Richardson, Clarissa; Lennox, The Female Quixote; Austen, Mansfield Park; Balzac, Le Père Goriot; Dickens, David Copperfield; James, The Wings of the Dove. Theorists: Aristotle, Locke, Freud, Bloom. Critics of Shakespeare reflecting notions of "character" from era to era: Thomas Rymer, Samuel Johnson, A.C. Bradley, E.E. Stoll. Contemporary critics of prose fiction: Deidre Lynch, Peter Brooks, Michael McKeon, Lisa Zunshine, Maria DiBattista.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nd.edu

Phone Number:

(574) 631-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

The Course Profile information is provided and updated by third parties including the respective institutions. While the institutions are able to update their information at any time, the information is not independently validated, and no party associated with this website can accept responsibility for its accuracy.