24205 Junior Seminar: Romantic Fiction and the Historical Novel

This course pursues the emergence of modern historical fiction at the moment when the “British novel” first joined the literary canon. We will focus upon a series of sites where Romantic fiction conceptualized history with special energy and complexity (the imperial Celtic periphery, commercial life, the everyday, and the mode of romance) while exploring the intrinsic connections between historical fiction and the idea of literary history. Primary authors will include Jane Austen, Frances Burney, Maria Edgeworth, James Hogg, Walter Scott, and Horace Walpole. As a junior seminar, this course is ideally suited for students interested in developing the skills necessary to write a BA Honors paper or those considering graduate work in English. This course will culminate in a substantial critical paper of your own design. Third-year English majors only. (B, F)

2016-2017 Spring