ENGL 321 - Eighteenth Century British Novels

The literary history of long prose fictions in English, from the late seventeenth century to the early nineteenth. Emphasis on the instability of “the novel” during this formative period in its development. Readings may include prose fictions that were not called “novels” (like Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe or Richardson’s Pamela) as well as prose fictions that were (like Haywood’s Love in Excess or Burney’s Evelina). Readings in nonfiction, particularly early-modern philosophy and late-modern criticism, assigned as needed. Topics may include the development of realist description, shifting notions of taste, manifestations of gender, modes of didacticism, and forms of character. Prerequisite(s): one 100-level ENGL course. Alternate years. (4 Credits)