This course fulfills the pre-1900 requirement. InA Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens writes, "there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good-humour." What makes humor contagious, and what does this contagion mean for literature? What exactly makes a novel funny? Is a funny novel necessarily agoodnovel? Why do some types of comedy age better than others? What is the opposite of comedy? In this course, we will consider these questions and many more as we traverse from the satirical brilliance of 18th-century pioneers like Laurence Sterne to the contemporary wit of Zadie Smith. We will seek to foster a nuanced understanding of the comic novel's development, its responsiveness to social dynamics, and its enduring significance within literary history. We will hone critical thinking skills through scholarly discourse, positioning ourselves to appreciate and analyze the diverse forms of humor manifested in enduring literary works. Texts may include works by Laurence Sterne, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Flann O'Brien, and Zadie Smith among others.
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