Undergraduate Course: From 'Fact' to 'Fiction': Women's Life Writing and the Rise of the Novel, c. 1650-1750 (ENLI10316)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | 'It is a truth (nearly) universally acknowledged among literary historians and theorists that women played a special role in the rise of the novel' (Josephine Donovan). However, the exact nature of that special connection remains a matter of debate. One currently under-examined link is that between the 'factual' accounts of women's lives which began to be published in the mid-seventeenth century and the later 'fictional' versions of them produced by early novelists including Defoe, Richardson and Fielding. Defending their political, religious or (predominantly) sexual reputations women's 'factual' life-writing from this period often deploys the 'fictional' conventions of romance, the criminal biography, or the scandal memoir. Conversely, many early novelists drew on these 'factual' lives to create their 'fictional' subjects. This course will enable students to explore the connections between texts written by both men and women which purport to represent women=s lives. This will simultaneously require an interrogation of the theoretical debates (literary and historical) regarding the complex relationship between 'fact' and 'fiction'. |
| Course description |
Not entered
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | Essential Course Texts |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- - An understanding of the development of narrative forms c. 1650-1750.
- An insight into the emergence of a particular conception of female subjectivity.
- A deeper understanding of the theoretical issues at stake in the division between "fact" and "fiction".
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
1 hour(s) per week for 9 week(s). |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Suzanne Trill
Tel: (0131 6)50 4291
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Anne Mason
Tel: (0131 6)50 3618
Email: |
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