SoSe 18: V-Culture-Gender-Media I: Victorian London
Sabine Schülting
Comments
The nineteenth century, characterized by contemporaries as “the age of great cities”, was strongly shaped by the unprecedented pace of urbanisation. The Victorian city, in turn, was the setting of considerable social and cultural upheavals concerning work, consumption, the family, private and public life. These changes were addressed with both anxiety and fascination, in literature, journalism and urban studies alike. The course will focus on the changing and conflicting representations of nineteenth-century London in a large variety of media. In this context, particular attention will be paid to the debates about urban poverty and the role of the city for the nation. Whereas urban slum areas were compared to the colonies and to “darkest Africa”, London was simultaneously constructed as the centre of the British Empire. Last but not least, we will consider how the city was gendered and how it impacted the relationships between the sexes, constructions of femininity, as well as discourses about sexuality. The lecture series will combine a cultural historical perspective on the Victorian city and the literature about it with an introduction to theoretical approaches to studying the city.
The course will be organised as a lecture course with discussion. Students will be expected to attend regularly and read short texts in preparation of weekly classes.
Texts: All texts will be made available on Blackboard.
close13 Class schedule
Regular appointments