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WiSe 15/16: PS-Introduction to Cultural Studies II: The Victorian Sensation Novel

Sven Durie

Comments

As a minor subgenre of British fiction that flourished in the 1860s, sensation novels were a popular but ephemeral literary phenomenon that lasted only a little more than a decade. What lent these novels their "sensational" quality was their perceived "shocking" content: For the first time, sensation novels offered their readers stories of spectacular crime and murder, scandalous adultery and bigamous marriages that were not situated, as usual, in the sphere of the criminal classes, but in a domestic, "middle class" setting. The subgenre's specific quality arises from its unique mixture of different modes of literary perception, such as contemporary domestic realism, elements of romance and the criminal "low life" of the Newgate novel. While today's reader might find the novels' supposedly sensational content rather conventional, contemporary critics regarded them as highly provocative and subversive. In this course, we will try to come to an understanding of what made these novels so "sensational" and investigate the ways by which they addressed fears, anxieties and obsessions that lay hidden behind Victorian Britain's dominant cultural conventions. Our readings of the texts will allow us to come to a deeper insight into the cultural significance of a decade that itself has been termed "sensational".
Required texts: Mary Elizabeth Braddon's Lady Audley's Secret (1862), Sheridan Le Fanu's Uncle Silas (1862) and Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone (1868). Shorter texts will be made available on Blackboard. Since Victorian novels tend to be rather long, students are advised to read the novels during the term break, in order to lessen the reading load during the semester. Course requirements are regular and active participation in class as well as short presentations. Credits can be obtained by submitting a term paper. close

16 Class schedule

Regular appointments

Wed, 10:00 - 12:00 16 Class schedule

Wed, 2015-10-14 10:00 - 12:00

Lecturers:
Sven Durie