Literatura I Ncleo Cultural I

1 ROMANTICISM AND THE NOVEL

This first lesson will provide you with an outline of the English literary tradition and will introduce you to
the Romanic Age. We will problematize issues of period, movement and style. We will study the rise of
the English novel and read Pride and Prejudice.

Objectives:

1- To become familiar with the concept of tradition and with the narrative of English literary
history.
2- To become familiar with the characteristics of the Romantic movement.
3- To start to trace the development of the novel as a complex genre and the different forms of
voice management in the novel.
4- To become familiar with Jane Austens work.

Activities:

You are asked to read the sources proposed and do research online to answer the following questions:
a- Find out who the most important writers in English literature were, when they lived and what
they wrote.
b- Find out what is undrestood by tradition and what Hobsbawm says about the term.
c- What difference is there between Romantic and romantic? What are the characteristics of
Romantic writing? Who were the most important exponents of the Romantic Movement?
d- Read The Problem of Speech Genres and answer: What does Bakhtin understand by primary
and secondary genres? Why is the novel a complex genre?
e- Find out what is understood by narrative voice.
f- Why did the novel become popular in the 18th century? What were the first genres in England?
g- What is understood as novel of manners? What values are communicated through this genre?
h- Why is Jane Austen considered an outstanding writer? Would you say she was a feminist writer?

Reading material:

Bakhtin, M. (1986). The Problem of Speech Genres. In Holquist, M. and C. Emerson (Eds.) Speech
Genres and Other Late Essays. Trans. by C. Emerson. Austin, TX, UTP.
Carter, R. and J. McRae. Romanticism. The Routledge History of Literature in English. London and NY:
Routledge.
Eagleton, T. (2005). The English Novel. An Introduction. Oxford, Blackwell.
Hobsbawm, E. and T. Ranger (1983). The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge, CUP. Optional.
Treitl, Berta, "The Moral Imperative in the Nineteenth Century Novel of Manners: Social Criticism in Jane
Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Henry James's Daisy Miller" (2002). Senior Research Projects. Paper
56. Optional. Web.
Marsahll, C. "Dull Elves" and Feminists: A Summary of Feminist Criticism of Jane Austen. Journal of the
 Jane Austen Society, Persuations: The Jane Austen Journal 14 (1992) pp. 39-45. Web. Optional.
Woolf, D. Jane Austen and History Revisited: The Past, Gender, and Memory from the Restoration to
Persuasion. Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal 26 (2004) pp. 217-237. Optional.

Literary reading:

Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice.

Suggested viewing:

The Romantics - Liberty (BBC Documentary) (YouTube) Optional.

The Romantics - Nature (BBC documentary) (YouTube) Optional.
The Romantics - Eternity (BBC documentary) (YouTube) Optional.

Integration:

As you well know, Literature I and Civilization I form a single course. In order to integrate the concepts we
have been working on with those you approach in Civilization, reflect on the following issues:

What historical forces propel changes in literary production by the turn of the 19th century? What genres
rise in response to the historical moment? What do those genres say about social relations?