Department of English

This course will explore the rise of the British novel, from the early eighteenth century to the early twentieth century. From its earliest avatars, the British novel engages with problems of exploration, discovery, gender and colonization. During the semester we will focus our attention on some of the major novels of these periods, attending to issues of style and form as well as to how the novel participates in contemporary debates about aesthetics, culture and politics. Readings will include works by Defoe, Richardson, Austen, Dickens, Eliot, Hardy, Conrad and Joyce.