The Rise of the Novel 2: Renaissance to Romantic Fictions in Europe and England (U01495)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : LLC-3-U01495

This course is designed to introduce students to an 'alternative' history of prose fiction and 'storytelling' from that offered by conventional, 'English'-biased accounts of 'the rise of the novel' by examining its origins in the late medieval period and early Renaissance, and its subsequent developments across Europe - Spain, France, Germany, and England - in the Enlightenment and Romantic periods. Through a series of close readings, students explore the narrative discourse and symbolic discourse of the genres of romance, picaresque, the historique nouvelle, the epistolary and sentimental novels, and the beginning of Gothic fiction - and situate them within their cultural and literary contexts (the Spanish Baroque, French Neoclassicism, for example).

Entry Requirements

? Pre-requisites : Passes in English or Scottish Literature 1 and English or Scottish or American Literature 2, with a mark of 50 or above at the first attempt in the second year course.

? Special Arrangements for Entry : Numbers are limited and students taking degrees not involving English or Scottish literature need the written approval of the head of English Literature

? Costs : Essential course texts

Subject Areas

Home subject area

English Literature, (School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, Schedule G)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 3rd year

? Delivery Period : To be arranged/Unknown

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

? Other Required Attendance : 1 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Thursday	14:00	15:50	Central

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

- To explore how prose fiction developed in Europe from the late medieval and Renaissance periods to the age of Enlightenment and Romanticism and therefore to show an awareness of its historical transformations.
- To reassess traditional accounts of 'the rise of the novel' which privilege England and the eighteenth century as the 'source' and 'origin' of what came to be recognised as the novel.
- To foster awareness of the different literary, cultural, and intellectual contexts which surround the emergence of each of our primary texts.
- To read each key text closely and become sensitive to the different ways in which fictional worlds are created and different novelistic genres are reworked over time.
- To understand the significant role of women in the development and reception of the novel in European culture.
- To investigate the art of storytelling or the nature of narrative
- To re-evaluate the traditional assessment of the novel as a 'realist' genre; and to appreciate the inescapable influence of 'romance' and of 'traditional', archetypal narratives.