MENMD3TBL: Topics in Victorian Literature
Credits: 20 credits
Module Director: Dr Adrienne Gavin
The Victorian period (1837-1901) was a very exciting time for literature, especially for the novel, which became the most important literary genre. “Victorian Sensations,” the topic offered for “Topics in Victorian Literature” for 2012-2013, examines some of the ways in which Victorian novels excited sensation – shocked reactions and/or emotional response – in Victorian readers. Examining passion, pain, the scandalous, and the shocking in fiction of the Victorian period, the module focuses on fiction that exemplifies the dual Victorian interests in emotional sensation, and in sensational or sensationalized events such as crimes, betrayals, and behavioural extremes.
Many of the texts on the module were condemned by Victorian commentators for their criminal, sexual or otherwise boundary-breaking content or for their fast, pacey style. At the same time they were avidly read, often becoming bestsellers. Sensation novels helped break down barriers about what writers could write about and also influenced the rise of detective fiction. They depicted and elicited strong emotions and played on readers’ nerves and desire for mystery and excitement. Analysing sensation fiction in its cultural, historical, and literary contexts, the module also considers contemporary critical responses and seeks to determine how sensation in its various meanings was central not only to the craze for Sensation Novels that flourished in the 1860s but also to Victorian fiction more widely.
The reading list will be finalised closer to the start of the module but may include: Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (1847); Caroline Clive, Paul Ferroll (1855); Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White (1860); Ellen Wood, East Lynne (1861); Mary Braddon, Lady Audley’s Secret(1862); Anna Sewell, Black Beauty (1877).
Assessment will be by a coursework essay of 2,500 words (50%) and a two-hour closed-book exam (50%).
For further information about this module, please contact Prof Adrienne Gavin: adrienne.gavin@canterbury.ac.uk.|.