Undergraduate Course: 'We are [not] Amused': Victorian Comic Literature (ENLI10249)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Although 'comedy' and 'humour' are not words readily associated with this period, Victorian culture was rife with various manifestations of what George Meredith called 'comic spirit'. By adopting a largely chronological approach, this course traces the development of the comic genre from the early Victorian comic prose of Dickens and Thackeray, through to Wildean farce at the fin de siecle. Among the concepts of comedy discussed will be high and low comedy, irony, wordplay, comic songs, satire, black comedy, farce and comedy of manners. Each week, in addition to chosen core material, we will examine a variety of theoretical material relevant to this course. This will include work by writers such as Meredith, Bergson, Freud and Bakhtin, together with more recent critical perspectives on this topic. |
| Course description |
Not entered
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | A MINIMUM of 4 college/university level literature courses at grade B or above (should include no more than one introductory level literature course). Related courses such as civilisation or other interdisciplinary classes, Freshman Year Seminars or composition/creative writing classes/workshops are not considered for admission to this course. Applicants should also note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission. In making admissions decisions preference will be given to students who achieve above the minimum requirement with the typical visiting student admitted to this course having 4 literature classes at grade A.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course ** |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Gain a detailed historical and theoretical understanding of a key literary genre. This understanding of the forms of comedy in the Victorian period will inform and complement the future study of this genre in other literary periods.
- The student completing this course will also gain experience of a wide variety of textual forms (novels, short stories, plays, poetry, song lyrics) and will understand how to incorporate these diverse forms into critical debates.
- In addition, the chronological nature of this course will allow the student to trace the ways in which a major literary genre is subject to change over a relatively short period of time.
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Additional Information
| Course URL |
https://www.ed.ac.uk/literatures-languages-cultures/english-literature/undergraduate/current/honours |
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Special Arrangements |
Numbers are limited and students taking degrees not involving English or Scottish literature need the written approval of the head of English Literature. |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
Seminar: 2 hour(s) per week for 11 week(s). Plus 1 hour a week attendance at Autonomous Learning Group - times to be arranged |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Jonathan Wild
Tel: (0131 6)51 3191
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms Monique Brough
Tel: (0131 6)50 3618
Email: |
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