Humanities Arts Cultural Stu 0243 - Brit. Lit.-Lofty and Bawdy

This course questions the association of literature with cultural refinement. Why, for instance, has literature historically been fascinated with the grotesque body? Conversely, why have writers wishing to represent their loftiest beliefs been drawn to poetry and other forms of literary refinement? By comparing high-minded sentiments with their lower-minded counterparts, we will explore the varied terrain of literary culture. The aim is to understand literature's complex stake in disputes about the formation of selfhood, gender, race, nation, politics, and most fundamentally, writing. The course surveys the trajectory of British literary history from the eighteenth century through Modernism. Readings may include texts by Behn, Swift, Pope, Blake, Wordsworth, Keats, Austen, C. Rossetti, Wilde, Joyce, and Eliot.

Writing and Research Instructor: Daniel Block