Department of English

This course will provide an introduction to the British novel. We will begin with readings from the 1700s when the novel was in fact novel, in the sense of new. Tracing its evolution up to the present, we will study how the novel both constructed and reflected notions of the self in society. More than a few orphans and criminals will command our attention, as will other characters who scout the changing, historical borders of identity and public institutions. Writers we will study are likely to include Aphra Behn, Daniel Defoe, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, Jean Rhys, and Kazuo Ishiguro. Requirements: lively class participation, regular reading assignments, and three formal papers