English 87100
The Rise of the Novel
Professor
Spring 2011
Monday, 4:15 to 6:15
During the "long eighteenth century" (1660-1830), most of the major innovations in both subject matter and narrative technique take shape. At its beginning the art of fiction often involves the close imitation of true narratives, while at its end fictional narrative both competes with and contributes to the writing of historical narrative. Throughout the period, form (in the sense of aesthetic ideology) exerts intense pressure upon content, while content (the social and sexual conflicts of the period, along with the growing force of nationality) exerts a counterpressure upon literary form. We shall read some of these most important canonical texts within and against the culture that formed them, a culture that took its own shape, at least in part, from the rise of the novel. In addition to exploring the narratives of the eighteenth century, we will also explore another set of narratives, the works of literary history in which scholars from the past fifty years have attempted to explain the origins of the English novel. Ian Watt's The Rise of the Novel (1957) was the master narrative against which recent literary historiographers have staged their own histories, including Michael McKeon, Ralph Rader, Lennard Davis, Catherine Gallagher, Nancy Armstrong, and Margaret Doody. We shall also be examining essays from The Rise of the Novel Revisited, a recent special issue of Eighteenth-Century Fiction.
PRIMARY TEXTS:
Aphra Behn, Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave, 1688. Penguin USA (Paper); ISBN: 0140433384
Eliza Haywood: Fantomina or Love in a Maze, 1725. Available online at http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Texts/fantomina.html
Daniel Defoe, The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders, etc., 1722. *Penguin Classics* ISBN 014043313-9
Samuel Richardson, Pamela, or,
Virtue Rewarded, 1740. **Oxford World Classics** ISBN: 0192829602
Henry Fielding, Joseph Andrews, 1742. Oxford UP; ISBN: 019283343X
Laurence Sterne, The Life and
Opinions of Tristram Shandy,
Gent., 1760-67. Ed. Melvin New, ***Penguin Classics*** ISBN: 0140435050
Frances Burney, Evelina, or The History of
a Young Lady's Entrance into the World, 1777. Oxford World Classics; ISBN:
0192833960
William Godwin, Things as They Are, or Caleb Williams, 1794. Norton. ISBN: 0393008614
Maria Edgeworth,
Castle Rackrent, 1800. Penguin Classics; ISBN
0140433201
Walter Scott, Waverley or 'Tis Sixty Years Since,
1814. Oxford World's Classics; 0192817221
Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, 1815. Oxford World's Classics; 019282757x
All
these editions are more or less optional—if you have another version, it
doesn’t much matter except in three cases marked by asterisks above:
SECONDARY TEXTS:
Ian Watt: The Rise of the Novel. Please read chapters 1-3 on “Formal Realism,” the Reading Public, and Economic Individualism, respectively. Much of this is on eReserve at Mina Rees. Password is englrichter.
Michael McKeon: The Origin of the English Novel, pages TBA
Ralph Rader: “Defoe, Richardson, Joyce, and the Concept of Form in Fiction” is on eReserve.
Rader’s “The Emergence of the Novel in England” and McKeon’s reply to Rader are also available on eReserve.
Catherine Gallagher’s “Nobody’s Story” talk was published in longer form in MLQ and is available on eReserve.
Laura Brown’s introduction to her 2001 book, Fables of Modernity, is on eReserve.
GENERAL SOURCES on RESERVE in MINA REES:
Ian Watt: The Rise of the Novel (1957)
Michael McKeon: The Origin of the English Novel (1987)
Ralph Rader: "Defoe, Richardson, Joyce, and the Concept of Form in the
Novel" (1974) and "The Emergence of the Novel in
Lennard J. Davis Factual Fictions: The Origins of the English Novel. 1983.
Nancy Armstrong: Desire and Domestic Fiction (1987).
Janet Todd: The Sign of Angellica: Women, Writing and Fiction 1660-1800 (1989)
J. Paul Hunter: Before Novels: The Cultural Contexts of Eighteenth-Century English Fiction (1990)
Catherine Gallagher: Nobody's Story: The Vanishing Acts of Women Writers in the Marketplace 1670-1820 (1995; or the MLA paper that was originary essay of this book).
Homer Obed Brown: Institutions of the English Novel. (1997)
Margaret Doody: The True Story of the Novel (1997).
William Beatty Warner: Licensing Entertainment: The Elevation of Novel
Laura Brown: Fables of Modernity (2001).
Lisa Freeman: "Allegories in and of Narrative," MLA 2001 Paper.
In addition we shall be reading essays taken from Reconsidering The Rise of the Novel, the Winter 2000 special issue of Eighteenth-Century Fiction.
CLASS SCHEDULE:
|
Date |
Text |
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Monday,
January 31, 2011 |
Organizational Meeting |
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Monday,
February 07, 2011 |
Behn: Oroonoko |
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Monday,
February 14, 2011 |
Haywood: Fantomina |
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Monday,
February 21, 2011 |
Graduate Center Closed |
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Wednesday,
February 23 |
Defoe: Moll Flanders |
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Monday,
February 28, 2011 |
Richardson: Pamela |
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Monday,
March 07, 2011 |
Fielding: Joseph Andrews |
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Monday,
March 14, 2011 |
Slack |
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Monday,
March 21, 2011 |
Sterne: Tristram Shandy |
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Monday,
March 28, 2011 |
Burney: Evelina |
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Monday,
April 04, 2011 |
Godwin: Caleb Williams |
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Monday,
April 11, 2011 |
Edgeworth: Castle Rackrent |
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Monday,
April 18, 2011 |
Spring Break |
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Monday,
April 25, 2011 |
Spring Break |
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Monday,
May 02, 2011 |
Scott: Waverley |
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Monday,
May 09, 2011 |
Austen: Mansfield Park |
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Monday,
May 16, 2011 |
The
Mystery Novel |
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Monday,
May 23, 2011 |
Optional Final Session |
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The list of who is scheduled for oral reports on which dates will be posted soon.
REQUIREMENTS:
Oral report and term paper for 4-credit students, just oral report together with wonderful attendance and participation for 2-credit students.
CONTACT
My office is in 4105, phone there is 817-8330. I'm available before class (2 to 4); Ill also be in on Fridays and can make it in on other days except Wednesdays, when I will be at Queens College. My Queens College phone is 718-997-4667. I also have a listed home phone if you need to get in touch with me. My home email address is drichter@nyc.rr.com