Admission requirements
BA
Description
The decades between 1880 and 1900 witnessed the flourishing of many interesting social as well as cultural movements, such as feminism, socialism, and imperialism, as well as naturalism, symbolism, aestheticism and decadentism. In this course, which offers a survey of English-language novels and novellas in a variety of new as well as renovated subgenres, including the Gothic novel, the detective and science fiction, we will address the major themes that were topical in the late nineteenth century, concentrating on how these themes were expressed in the reading material.
A connecting thread throughout the programme will be the recurrent theme of binary contrast: between men and women, mind and body, good and evil, order and chaos, rich and poor, young and old, past and future, in short: “beauty” and “beast” — and the question: which is which?
Course objectives
Based on the assumption that participants have already acquired the basic skills for the analysis of literary texts, this course aims to extend these skills both in terms of textual analysis (close reading) and contextual approach (cultural-historical as well as theoretical). Students will be encouraged to share analytical and theoretical views on the assigned texts in class discussions, including short presentations, and to focus research skills on a relevant subject of their own choice within the parameters of the course in the form of a final research paper.
Timetable
Tuesday 14.00-17.00
The timetable will be available by July 1st on the website.
Mode of instruction
3-hour seminar per week
Assessment method
Active participation in class (including the presentation of a weekly reading report) and a 5,000-word research paper will contribute for 50% each toward the final mark.
Blackboard
There is no blackboard page available.
Reading list
Peter Barry, Beginning Theory, Manchester University Press, 3rd edn, 2009
Olive Schreiner, The Story of an African Farm
Walter Pater, Marius the Epicurean
Richard Jefferies, After London
R.L. Stevenson, Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde and The Ebb-Tide
Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet
Henry Rider Haggard, She
George Gissing, New Grub Street
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
George & Weedon Grossmith, The Diary of a Nobody
H.G. Wells, The Time Machine and The Island of Dr Moreau
Thomas Hardy, Jude the Obscure
Bram Stoker, Dracula
Frank Norris, McTeague
Registration
Students should register through uSis. Exchange students cannot register through uSis, but must see the director of studies and register with her. If you have any questions, please contact the departmental office, tel. 071 5272144 or mail: english@hum.leidenuniv.nl.
Exchange and Study Abroad students, please see the Study in Leiden website for information on how to apply
Contact information
Departmental Office English Language and Culture, P.N. van Eyckhof 4, room 102C. Tel. 071 5272144; or mail english@hum.leidenuniv.nl.
Studentcounsellor Bachelor: Ms T.D. Obbens, P.N. van Eyckhof 4, room 103B.
Coordinator of Studies Master: Ms T.D. Obbens, P.N. van Eyckhof 4, room 103B.