Eighteenth-Century Fiction

Introduction

Literary genres are evolutionary phenomena. They develop out of the needs, aspirations, and material resources of a culture; and flourish, wither, or mutate over time. The overwhelming dominance of the novel as the prestige genre of the 20th Century tends to blind us to the fact that the novel did not always hold its current position. Though the writing of extended works of prose fiction extends back for millennia, the distinctive form that we consider the novel developed only around 300 years ago. 

In moving from the Tudor period to the Hanoverian, the tradition of the aristocratic romance melded with that of Enlightenment journalism. The works that resulted captured the experiences of the rising bourgeoisie with an attention to realistic detail not seen before. Over the Eighteenth Century the novel increased in psychological depth, range, and finesse, preparing the way for its great flourishing among the Victorians.

This course examines the novel in its earliest, formative decades, from the vigorous, sprawling realism of Defoe, to the polish and wit of Austen, the wild experimentation of Sterne, and the calculated excesses of Gothic fiction. As a 400-level course designed for majors, it will require significant independent study and research. Besides following a comparatively heavy reading schedule, students will find and evaluate scholarly sources on the early novel and write a conference talk suitable for formal presentation.

Course Goals

  • To learn how the novel evolved from its earliest appearance to the verge of its full flowering.
  • To understand the cultural contexts of the novel's evolution and how they shaped the genre.
  • To become sensitive to the range of fictional approaches and techniques available to the novelist.
  • To become more aware of the problematic relationship between the text of the novel and the life it attempts to reflect.
  • To become more aware of scholarly and critical study of the novel through an examination of critical sources.
  • To become more skilled at scholarly writing through the development and presentation of a conference paper.