Instructor: Patricia Whiting. Office: 1810 ... Shelley, Percy Bysshe. Zastrozzi and
.... Talking Books discussion: Lewis, Dacre, Percy Shelley, Sexual Politics. Mar.
Carleton University Winter 2013 Department of English ENGL 4003A STUDIES IN THE NOVEL Talking Books: Conversations within and between Gothic Novels 1764-1818 Prerequisite: fourth-year standing in Honours English, and permission of the department Classes: Tuesday 2:35 – 5:25 Loc: 213 Tory Building (Please confirm through Carleton Central) Instructor: Patricia Whiting Office: 1810 Dunton Tower Phone: 520-2600 ext. 6702 email:
[email protected] Office Hours: Monday 1:30-2:30, or by appointment
DESCRIPTION: By the end of the 18th century, although the novel was still highly suspect in some circles, its power to convey a remarkable range of authorial aims, literary, social, and/or political, was widely recognized. Thus, it is unsurprising that writing a crowd-pleasing Gothic novel was attractive to a diverse collection of authors, from dilettantes to political theorists to social satirists. When Clara Reeve wrote The Old English Baron to build on and improve on Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto, she initiated a conversation within and between Gothic novels, which was carried on for the duration of the Gothic period in English literature. This course will listen in on these conversations about politics, power, religion, gender, and morality, to name but a few topics, and use them as a basis to engage in conversations of our own on such subjects as narrative, intertextuality, parody, didacticism, and readers. These conversations will form the basis of the course, so it is imperative that all students read all the texts and come prepared to participate in discussions that will be led by groups of students. TEXTS: Walpole, Horace. The Castle of Otranto (Broadview) Reeve, Clara. The Old English Baron (Oxford Classics) Radcliffe, Ann. The Mysteries of Udolpho (Oxford Classics) Lewis, Matthew. The Monk (Broadview) Austen, Jane. Northanger Abbey (Broadview) Godwin, William, St. Leon (Broadview) Shelley, Percy Bysshe. Zastrozzi and St. Irvyne (Broadview) Dacre, Charolotte, Zofloya (Broadview) Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein (Broadview) Peacock, Thomas Love. Nightmare Abbey (Broadview)
These books will be available at Benjamin Books, 112 Osgoode Street. The Broadview editions will be shrink-wrapped in two packages at a discounted price (if you buy the package, you get four books for the price of three). You will also need a good dictionary and a grammar reference. If you already have a different edition of any of the texts, feel free to use what you have.
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EVALUATION: Attendance Participation Individual seminar presentation and question period (25 – 30 min.) Discussion groups (each student will participate in 2 groups) Essay (10-12 pp)
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Please read this carefully: 1. Attendance: Class attendance is mandatory. Excused absences must be medically documented. Absences for work reasons will not be excused. Students who attend only part of a class will be counted as absent for that class. Students who miss two classes will lose all five attendance points. PLEASE NOTE: The use of laptops or other electronic devices is not permitted in this seminar. In keeping with its theme, this course is discussion-intensive. There will be a question/ discussion period following each seminar presentation and Talking Books discussions on specific groupings of novels in the course. The question/ discussion period following each seminar will be led by the seminar presenter. The Talking Books discussions will be led by teams of students. See below for further information. 2. Participation: All students are expected to contribute productively to every question period and every discussion. Students will receive a penalty of three points from their participation mark for each class in which they do not substantively participate. The participation mark will be based on demonstration of knowledge of the texts being discussed and the relevance and contribution value of comments. 3. Seminars: Each student will present a 25-30 minute seminar that makes a focused argument regarding an aspect of the novel being discussed. Presenters are strongly encouraged to discuss topics with me at least a week before the presentation takes place. For novels that involve two seminars, it is essential that the presenters speak with each other very early on so as not to duplicate material. On the night before the presentation, the presenter will e-mail to each member of the class and to me an abstract of the presentation and a properly documented list of sources used in its preparation. On the day of the presentation, the presenter will hand in a legible hard copy of seminar notes (may be informal) and a proper Works Cited page. A 20 to 30-minute class discussion that extends the specific focus of the seminar will follow each seminar presentation. This discussion will be facilitated by the presenter, but all students should come up with questions that relate to the seminar presentation and that do not focus on the topics to be covered in the Talking Books discussion for that day. 3. Talking Books Discussions: At the end of the course outline, you will find a list of conversation topics carried on within the pages of the Gothic novels we’re reading in this course. The Talking Books discussions will focus on these internal conversations between specific clusters of novels and will attempt to determine the points that novels might be making, consider the strategic methods used to make them, and evaluate the effectiveness and possible outcomes of the conversations. Each student will be involved in a discussion team for two types of Talking Books discussion: 1) a class discussion of approximately 60 minutes (teams of two students) and 2) a roundtable discussion of approximately 90 minutes (teams of three students). Individuals, not groups, will be evaluated in the Talking Books discussions. The performance of individuals in the group leading Roundtable discussions will be evaluated by taking the average of: 1) a mark of 1 to 5 allocated by me (based on the quality of discussion questions and the handling of the discussion); and 2) a mark of 1 to 5 allocated by members of the group conducting the discussion (based on individual effort in making the discussion a
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success). The Talking Book discussions will involve close collaboration between students, which can be carried out in person or by e-mail or a combination of both. There is no written component to the Talking Books discussions. Your Talking Books discussion may not involve the novel on which you present your seminar. 4. Essay: The final 10- to 12-page essay may focus on two or more novels from the course, but the topic must be directly linked to an adequately narrowed focus on an intertextual conversation on one of the topics. You are free to build on ideas that are discussed in class, as long as they are supported by a minimum of four secondary sources. Thesis statements must be reviewed and okayed by me in writing via e-mail by March 26, and this “okay” must be turned in with the essay, or the paper will not be accepted. Although I will be glad to work with you on your thesis statements by e-mail, I DO NOT ACCEPT PAPERS BY EMAIL. The essay may be turned in at any time during the term, but no essays can be accepted after April 9. Late assignments will not be accepted without a valid doctor's certificate.
Syllabus Jan. 8 – Introduction to the Gothic Jan. 15 – Introduction to the Gothic Jan. 22 – The Castle of Otranto/ The Old English Baron Talking Books discussion: Walpole, Reeve, Family Jan. 29 – The Mysteries of Udolpho Talking Books discussion: Walpole, Reeve, Radcliffe, Sexual Politics Feb. 5 – The Monk Talking Books discussion: Radcliffe, Lewis, the Gothic Feb. 12 – Northanger Abbey Talking Books discussion: Walpole, Reeve, Radcliffe, Lewis, Austen, the Novel/ Intertextuality Feb. 19 – Reading Week Feb. 26 – Roundtable 1) Morality 2) Nationalism, Commercialism, and Consumerism Mar. 5 – Zofloya/ St. Irvyne Talking Books discussion: Lewis, Dacre, Percy Shelley, Sexual Politics Mar. 12 – St. Leon 3
Talking Books discussion: Godwin, Percy Shelley, Class Politics Mar. 19 – Nightmare Abbey Talking Books discussion: Godwin, Percy Shelley, Peacock, the Novel Mar. 26 – Frankenstein Talking Books discussion: Godwin, Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley, Family, Intertextuality Apr. 2 – Roundtable Discussion 1) Morality, Minorities, and Nationalism 2) The Gothic and the Uses of the Novel Apr. 9 – Review, Essays due
Conversation Topics for Talking Books Discussions It has been persuasively argued that English novels in the 18th century were actively engaged in ongoing conversations between themselves on topics of importance to their original readers. The 18th-century novel was an important site for working out the new secular morality and new social and political realities that resulted from the religious, economic, political, and social upheavals of the 17th century. The Talking Books discussions will look closely at the content and implications of these important intertextual and intratextual conversations. Some of the most significant conversation topics were: Morality – In the wake of the upheavals of the 17th century and as religion waned as a structuring principle of society, new codes of ethical and moral behaviour had to be identified, defined, and rationalized to provide guidelines for both personal response and social behaviour that would resemble Christian morality but without recourse to religion. Given their capacity for palatable didacticism, novels were heavily involved in the conversation about secular morality. What does each novel have to say for itself on this subject and how does it relate to the other novels in the cluster(s) to which it belongs? Class Politics – Throughout the 18th century, the upwardly mobile middling classes sought to wrest power from the aristocracy and, though strengthening the power of Parliament and commercial enterprise, to establish political hegemony. Virtually all 18th-century novels commented at length on this struggle from diverse points of view. In general, novels promoted the values of the upwardly mobile classes, but in them we also see the pervasive ambivalence about the upper classes and commercialism and consumerism, as well as the hopes and fears associated with blurred and destabilized class distinctions. What do the novels say in themselves and to each other about class mobility and its promise and dangers? Sexual Politics – The Restoration at the end of the 17th century opened a window of opportunity for women, a window that was steadily closed over the course of the 18th century, though not closed without protest and not closed entirely. During the same period, the definition of the gentleman changed dramatically from a man who was unproblematically born to the position to a man who, whatever his beginnings, earned the title through his initiative and moral worth. In addition, the attributes of masculinity and femininity are always historically specific but not always agreed upon. What arguments about masculinity and femininity arise in the novels? What do the novels say in themselves and to each other about the politics of gender?
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The Novel (uses of fiction; didacticism; parody/satire) – Not only emerging as the most popular form of popular culture in the 18th century, the novel was a powerful tool in the hands of those who promoted specific social, political, and religious agendas. The novel, well-named because it really was something new under the sun, was also from the beginning a kleptomaniac genre, borrowing from established modes and genres even as it pioneered new literary territory. The novel also existed in a wildly competitive and largely lawless publishing world where readers, not advertisers, publishers, or distributors, held the keys to a book’s success, and as a consequence, novelists wrote very much with their readers in mind. Gothic novels were enormously popular with readers. What conversations were carried on within them about the uses of fiction and the employment of established literary models and modes? The Gothic – The English Gothic novel truly made itself up as it went along. Some novels considered the Gothic mode only a vehicle, but many were more serious about formulating a definition. How do the conversations carried on within the novels work to define, establish, or subvert the Gothic as a distinct subgenre?
Related but separate topics include: Minorities – Eighteenth-century England was not always tolerant of minority groups, whether racial or religious minorities. Though these issues were seldom central concerns in mainstream novels of the period, the Other appeared on a regular basis in the Gothic novel, especially in allusions to Catholics, Jews, Muslims, and Africans. Do the conversations about minorities in Gothic novels make significant statements or does the Other merely appear by chance or for novelistic convenience? Nationalism – The British imperialist dream that emerged in the 16th century took root in the busy, commercial 18th century, by the end of which a strong and growing British Empire was globally recognized if not globally admired. Many novelists, though not all, participated in the nationalist project of promoting the idea of England as a commercial power as well a global leader. What visions of England appear in Gothic novels? Commercialism and Consumerism – Upward mobility was in part an outgrowth of the booming global economy, and it resulted in more people with more expendable income, which, in accordance with the laws of capitalism, went hand-inhand with the increasing availability of things for people to buy, including books. For some people (such as Whigs), this state of affairs constituted progress and was to be embraced. For others (such as Tories), it was conspicuous consumption, tasteless and morally objectionable. Unsurprisingly, this argument is carried on implicitly and explicitly in many 18thcentury novels. Family – One of the most significant social changes of the 18th century in England had to do with the family. The family of feudal aristocracy based on kinship replaced the nuclear family based on ties of affection, a transition that took place alongside the movement from feudalism to capitalism. The family plays a prominent role in the Gothic novel, particularly with regard to the aggrandizement of families through marriage, but also with regard to inheritance and family honour. What is it about the family that made it so attractive to Gothic novelists? Intertextuality – Gothic novels not only talked to each other, but they also talked with other works literature, especially (but not limited to) the poetry and plays of the past. To what ends is such literature put, and for what possible motives?
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