Course details

Name: ENGL - 334

Title: EUROPEAN ROMANTICISM

Section: 01

Semester: Spring - 2020

Credits: 3

Description:
What were French and German authors writing about before and after Shelley composed Frankenstein (ca. 1770 to 1830), and how did they envision what the writers of the Declaration of Independence termed “the pursuit of happiness”? This course investigates the French and German influences on Frankenstein, as well as the ways in which Shelley’s famous novel critiques the pursuit of happiness when it impacts others’ freedom, liberty, and personhood. In addition to Frankenstein, the reading includes harbingers of European Romanticism (Rousseau’s Second Discourse and Goethe’s Sufferings of Young Werther); key texts of the period (Goethe’s Faust, and Hoffmann's Sandman); French and German Romantic poetry; and overlooked writers who influenced major issues of the day like the French Revolution, colonialism, and women’s rights. The class will discuss themes common to Romantic-era writing, such as nature, utopia, freedom, the grotesque, and the uncanny in five genres: poetry, drama, treatise, a novel, and a novella. Students will leave the course with an understanding of the term romantic and appreciation for the ways in which the Romantic movement transcends national and generic borders. The publisher will offer students a 10% discount when they purchase all three of these texts together at the university bookstore (in reading order): J. W. v. Goethe, The Sufferings of Young Werther (Norton, 978-0-393-93556-1); Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (Norton, 2nd ed., 978-0-393-92793-1); J. W. v. Goethe, Faust (978-0-393-97282-5). Other texts will be made available as pdfs on Canvas. It’s preferred that students acquire these editions and translations, but if they opt for another publisher’s edition of Frankenstein, they should please acquire the 1818 text. This asynchronous hybrid course will meet on campus Mondays. Students will be responsible for finishing online tasks no later than Wednesdays or Thursdays at 11:59pm (depending on group assignment and task).

Last updated on 2019-10-16 By Nielsen Wendy (nielsenw)

Schedule: Monday From 4:00 pm To 5:15 pm

Graduation requirements:

  • Any Literature (1e)
  • Pre-1900 (1c)
  • International Issues (3a)
  • Women and Gender Studies (3c)

Teaching Faculty: Nielsen Wendy (nielsenw)

Is course canceled: No