Course Description
Readings in major works of nineteenth-century world literature, with an emphasis on industrialization and its consequences up to the present day. Special emphasis will be placed on the relevance of these works to contemporary society.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Additional reading, writing, and research assignments.
Athena Title
Industrial Age Literature
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
- to introduce students to major writers and works of nineteenth-century world literature, with an emphasis on industrialization and its consequences, as well as on the relevance of the texts under discussion to contemporary society around the world; - to provide a survey of historical developments during the period; - to contextualize the works within broad literary and cultural movements, such as Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism, Symbolism, Decadence, and Modernism; - to improve students' critical skills through the analysis of individual works of literature; - and to develop students' communication skills through oral presentations and writing assignments. Students' performances will be assessed through presentations, papers, tests, and a final examination.
Topical Outline
A set of readings of 19th-century literary works provides the structure of the course. Special emphasis will be placed on the relevance of these works to the contemporary world. The topics covered are generated by the individual works under consideration. Among the issues commonly treated are: major literary movements of the 19th century; urbanization, industrialization, and the formation of 19th- century class structure; Europe, colonialism, and imperialism; mass culture and the development of a publishing industry; intellectuals and the formation of the modern university; culture, taste, and education as elements in the formation of culture. The specific works treated vary with the individual instructor. The following is a sample syllabus of readings for a single semester: Zola. Germinal Buchner. Wozzeck Futabatei Shimei. The Drifting Cloud Stendhal. The Charterhouse of Parma Twain. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Machado de Assis. The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas Balzac. Le Pere Goriot Eliot. Silas Marner Goncharov. Oblomov Tolstoy. Anna Karenina Dostoevsky. The Idiot