Module: 19th Century Literature

Module Specifications..

Current Academic Year 2023 - 2024

Please note that this information is subject to change.

Module Title	19th Century Literature
Module Code	EL204
School	67
Module Co-ordinator	Semester 1: Jim Shanahan Semester 2: Jim Shanahan Autumn: Jim Shanahan
Module Teachers	Sharon Murphy Jim Shanahan
NFQ level	8	Credit Rating	5
Pre-requisite	None
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

None

Description

This course aims to introduce students to literary works of the nineteenth-century by exploring predominately British and American works of fiction, poetry and drama of the period. This module will contextualize selective writers and works in terms of the historical and social context from which they emerged, and explore what they reveal about the anxieties and aspirations of the nineteenth century – from Romanticism to Victorianism.

Learning Outcomes

1. Outline the main thematic concerns of nineteenth-century British and American literature.
2. Recognise the variety of forms adopted by British and American literary artists of the period.
3. Compare and contrast nineteenth-century literature with literature of earlier and later eras.
4. Relate individual novels, poems and plays to the historical, cultural and socio-political context of nineteenth- century Britain and America.
5. Discuss literary developments of the period such as romantic subjectivity and idealism; individualism; gothic-revivalism, aestheticism and decadence; melodrama, realism and naturalism; ratiocination and detective fiction.

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full-time hours per semester
Lecture	21	Lectures
Tutorial	3	Tutorials
Independent Study	101	Independent Learning
Total Workload: 125

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Jane Austen Mansfield Park (1814)

Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1818)

Charles Dickens Oliver Twist (1838)

Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol (1843)

Edgar Allan Poe, Selection of Short Stories (1840s)

Emily Bronte Wuthering Heights (1847)

Nathaniel Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter (1850)

Dion Boucicault, The Colleen Bawn (1860)

George Eliot, Middlemarch (1871)

Mark Twain Huckleberry Finn (1884)

Gerard Manley Hopkins, ‘No worst, there is none’ (1885)

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890)

.---The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)

Stephen Crane The Red Badge of Courage (1891)

H.G. Wells, The Time Machine (1895)

Bram Stoker, Dracula (1897)

Kate Chopin The Awakening (1899)

Arthur Conan Doyle, Selection of Sherlock Holmes Stories (1890s-1905)

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment	30%	Examination Weight	70%

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Course Work Breakdown
Essay	Essay	25%	n/a

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; 1 = A resit is available for all components of the module 2 = No resit is available for 100% continuous assessment module 3 = No resit is available for the continuous assessment component
This module is category 1

Indicative Reading List

Arata, Stephen D.: 1990, ‘The Occidental Tourist: Dracula and the Anxiety of Reverse Colonization’,, no. 4, Victorian Studies 33,,
Armstrong, Nancy: 1987, Desire and Domestic Fiction: a Political History of the Novel, Oxford University Press, Oxford,
Craft, Christopher: 1984, “Kiss Me with those Red Lips”: Gender and Inversion in Bram Stoker’s Dracula’, Representations, No. 8,
David, Deirdre: 2000, The Cambridge Companion to the Victorian Novel, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
Eagleton, Terry: 2005, The English Novel: An Introduction, Blackwell, New Jersey,
Eagleton, Terry: 2005, Holy Terror, Oxford University Press, Oxford,
Gilbert, Sandra M.: 1978, ‘Horror’s Twin: Mary Shelley’s Monstrous Eve’ Feminist Studies, Vol. 4, No. 2, Toward a Feminist Theory of Motherhood,
Hogle, Jerrold E.: 2002, The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
Moretti, Franco: 1982, ‘The Dialectic of Fear’, New Left Review 136,
Moretti, Franco: 2006, The Novel (2 vols), Princeton University Press, Princeton, NY,
Powell, Kerry (ed): 2004, The Cambridge Companion to Victorian and Edwardian Theatre, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
Richards, Bernard Arthur: 1988, English Poetry of the Victorian Period, 1830-1890, Longman, Harlow, United Kingdom,
Stevens, David: 2000, The Gothic Tradition, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
Tucker, Herbert F.: 1998, A Companion to Victorian Literature and Culture, Blackwell, New Jersey,
Wheeler, Michael: 1994, English Fiction of the Victorian Period, 1830-1890, Longman, London,

Other Resources

None

Programme or List of Programmes

AFU	Age Friendly University Programme
BAJH	Bachelor of Arts (BAJH)
BAJM	Bachelor of Arts (BAJM)
HMSA	Study Abroad (Humanities & Soc Science)

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