2017-2018 Academic Catalog

Nov 25, 2024

2017-2018 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

ENG 263 - Traumatic Tales: British Romantic Literature and Nationhood

This course examines the formation of British national identity through its troubling origins in women’s lesser status, slavery, colonial rule and imperialism. Focusing on the slave narrative, confessional poetry and the political and domestic novel, this seminar will explore the ways in which Romantic writers attempted to articulate a national narrative through shaping a host of discourses surrounding class, home, and the nation-state. To better understand this concept of nationalism, we will also read psychoanalytical and critical social theory related to genocide, accidents and torture. Through the course, we will come to comprehend the ways in which the marginalized are displaced in the formation of a homogeneous national culture. For undergraduate English majors this course satisfies the Period (C-2) requirement.

Anticipated Terms Offered: Every other year.