ENGL2890 · English

The Meaning of Place in 19th-Century Literature

Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences

The nineteenth century forever changed the meaning of space and place for British readers and writers. Industrialization transformed both English cities and the countryside. Meanwhile, the British Empire was expanding and would reach its apex at the beginning of the 20th-century. In this class, we will consider how the British sense of place, from the domestic to the global, informed nineteenth-century ideas about community and belonging. We begin with the literature of industrial England, then move to rural England before traveling further afield to Ireland and to the globe itself. Themes of the course include class and the solidifying capitalist economy, the contested narratives of national and imperial identity, concepts of race and ethnicity, and the struggle to depict the lives of both individuals and collectives. Through these themes, we will see that the nineteenth-century put inquiries into motion that we still grapple with today.Fulfills pre-1900.