Survey of British Literature (2)

The goal of this course is to survey the literary culture of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries in England, emphasizing the historical and cultural context out of which different literary genres and movements appeared. The characteristics of major writers and works are presented. Attention is also given to some major literary figures writing in English in Ireland. Students are introduced to more literary theories and critical methods that can be applied in the analysis of the works. Students gain further experience in writing a short academic analysis of a literary work according to formal requirements.

To get acquainted with the history of 18th, 19th, and 20th century British literature; to develop the skills of academic literary analysis.

Good knowledge of English.

1. The ideology of Neo-Classicism: a man in society. Johnathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, Book 4 as a satire. 2. English Romanticism: nature in William and Dorothy. Wordsworth’s poetry and prose. 3. William. Blake and George Byron: politico-cultural rebellion in their poetry. 4. Late Romanticism: the Pre-Raphaelite movement 5. The situation of Ireland. Anglo-Irish literature, Celtic Rennaissance. W.B. Yeats’s poetry. 6. Decadent movement. 7. The concept of the New Woman in G.B. Shaw’s play Mrs Warren‘s Profession. 8. World War I poetry. 9. Modernist poetry: T.S. Eliot. 10. Modernist prose: Virginia Woolf’s and James Joyce’s writing. 11. Changes in English culture after World War II. 12. Harold Pinter’s play The Dumb Waiter. 13. The issues of Northern Ireland; Seamus Heaney’s poetry.14. Rules for formal academic writing: language issues; essay structure; rules of citing sources; selection and analysis of quotations.

1. The influence of the historical context on major 18th, 19th, and 20th century British writers and their work is identified and described. 2. The main thematic and stylistic features of major 18th, 19th, and 20th century British literary texts are identified and described. 3. A written literary analysis is prepared, following the requirements for an academic essay.