Cultural and Literary Expression in the 18th and 19th Centuries (saylor.org)

Scholars tend to label the period between the Renaissance and the Modern Era the “long” 18th and 19th centuries, meaning that they span from around 1680-1830 and 1775-1910, respectively, and that so many literary movements and cultural changes took place during these interim years, a narrower title is difficult to come by. In this course, we will examine these formative cultural and literary developments chronologically, dividing the syllabus into four (roughly sequential) periods: The Enlightenment and Restoration Literature; The Rise of the Novel; Romanticism; and the Victorian Period. We will identify and contextualize the principal characteristics of each of these movements/developments, reading representative texts and examining their relationship to those texts that preceded or were contemporaneous with them.

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

Identify the major literary trends of the 18th and 19th century, from Restoration comedy and satires through Victorian poetry and prose
Outline the major developments in philosophical thought during the Enlightenment and identify these strains of thought in works like Voltarie’s Candide
Identify the factors that led to the rise of the novel as a literary form
Identify the specific traits that characterize early sentimental, Gothic, and picaresque novels
Describe the political factors that led to the popularity of Romanticis;
Describe the shift in thought that led to the split between Romanticism and Enlightenment
Identify the themes, conventions, and tropes of Romantic poetry
Define and explain the significance of the term/concept of “the Romantic imagination”
Define the political, social, and economic factors that led to the surge in popular Victorian fiction
Explain the significance of poetic experimentation in the 19th century works of writers like Tennyson, Hopkins, and Browning