Saylor.org

The Victorian Period of English history (1837-1901) witnessed a set of complex political, social, scientific, and philosophical developments. These developments were intricately tied to and represented by the culture’s various forms of literary production—most notably the Victorian novel.

Many scholars consider Dante the ultimate Italian poet of his time. He introduced innovative stylistic techniques to the poetic tradition while also drawing from the philosophy, history, and mythology of the ancient world. As we will see in the course, he composed his works in the Italian [...]

The decades between roughly 1890 and 1950 witnessed unprecedented efforts to create new art, new values, and a new culture in Europe and the United States. During this time Western writers, artists, and intellectuals questioned accepted aesthetic norms and produced radically experimental works of art and new understandings of [...]

Scholarship on medieval women writers is a somewhat recent phenomenon, in part because we know relatively little about men of the Middle Ages—and what we know about women from the period is even more limited. In this course, we will engage this new frontier in literary studies by [...]

Many consider James Joyce the most influential author of the 20th century. His innovations in narrative strategy in particular continue to shape and inspire literature today. In this course, we will examine Joyce’s aesthetic and artistic sensibilities through close readings of the major works in his oeuvre, placing special [...]

As most famously defined by F. O. Matthiessen in his groundbreaking book, The American Renaissance: Art and Expression in the Age of Emerson and Whitman (1941), the “American Renaissance” demarcates a period of tremendous literary activity between the 1830s and 1860s that marked the cultivation, for the first time, [...]

The Romantic Period in England took place during the “age of revolutions,” a span of time that saw not only the rapid industrialization of Europe but two significant national revolutions—one in France, and one in America. This revolutionary spirit in many ways fed and sustained the Romantic movement in [...]

What makes a novel “Gothic”? Scholars have debated this question for decades: some consider “the Gothic” a literary time period, spanning from the 1760s to 1820; others view it as a set of thematic concerns; still others understand it as a literary mode, in which contemporary authors like [...]

Many consider William Shakespeare the greatest dramatist—even the greatest writer—of all time. His impact on Western culture and language is unmistakable, but his works have also been continuously read and performed around the world, illustrating his global significance.

This course will introduce you to the field of literary theory, making its various methods and premises available to you and your endeavors as a critical reader. As we progress through the syllabus, we will identify and engage with the key problems and questions that have animated—and continue [...]