There are no pre-requisites for this module to be added

This module offers you the opportunity to develop your understanding of nineteenth-century literature in its cultural-historical context, as well as the ways in which contemporary writers have re-imagined the Victorian period. The module allows you to study different genres (drama, poetry, fiction and non-fiction), enhancing your awareness of textual forms alongside specific contextual-historical themes. The module will train you in thinking, reading and communicating critically and analytically. You will have an opportunity to practise your group working skills and present your thoughts in oral and written form.Framed through the sociological concept of 'deviance', the module invites you to consider how dominant social norms constructed outsider identities and how literary texts responded to this process, by, for example, affirming or resisting social expectations of the period. With a focus on the end of the nineteenth century and questions of gender, class and sexuality, the module invites you to consider selected examples of fiction, drama and poetry as responses to topics such as baby farming and infanticide, spiritualism, prostitution, gambling or alcoholism. You will learn about literary-artistic movements such as aestheticism and naturalism and develop an appreciation for neo-Victorian writers' attempts to critically re-examine the legacies of the Victorian period.The weekly lectures will provide an introduction to each text and some contextual issues, setting the scene for further examination of text and context in group and individual work. You will also be expected to engage with recent scholarly debates on the material in question.Module materials encourage critical examination of issues to do with cultural representations of identity, such as class, gender or sexuality. In this way, the module content also promotes equality and diversity.

Upon completion of this module you will be able to

LO1: Critically discuss a range of nineteenth-century writings and neo-Victorian texts in oral and written form.

LO2: Explore selected aspects of the nineteenth-century cultural-historical context.

LO3: Illustrate an understanding of formal choices and techniques.

LO4: Explore how individual texts relate to each other regarding a particular theme.

LO5: Locate and discuss relevant secondary literature.

LO6: Illustrate an ability to work individually and with others, and an ability to reflect on your learning.