LIT226 Romanticism: (R)evolution of the Self (8)

The terrain of this subject is shadowed by revolution. We seek to understand how the revolutionary movement of Romanticism was a cultural phenomenon that had its origins in new understandings of what it means to be human, and in turn, bequeathed vital new ways of expressing this humanity. Through reading eighteenth and early nineteenth century writing, we discover how and why the neoclassical or Augustan values of rational order, elegance, elitism and confident knowledge were disrupted and refashioned by the rise of uncertainty, individual crisis, the potential of the imagination, revolutionary democracy and a new urgency in the sense of self.

Availability

Session 3 (90)
Online
Bathurst Campus

Continuing students should consult the SAL for current offering details: LIT226. Where differences exist between the Handbook and the SAL, the SAL should be taken as containing the correct subject offering details.

Subject Information

Grading System

HD/FL

Duration

One session

School

School of Social Work and Arts

Enrolment Restrictions

Subject is not available to students who have completed subject LIT108 as it shares similar content.

Assumed Knowledge

It is assumed that students will have successfully completed LIT111.

Subject Relationships

LIT108 Shares similar content

Incompatible Subjects

LIT108

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this subject, students should:
  • be able to read and analyse the language and literary effects of eighteenth and early nineteenth century literature;
  • be able to analyse a substantial range of literary texts in their socio-political contexts;
  • be able to apply an understanding of the key aspects of Romanticism to the analysis of literary texts;
  • be able to reflect on their own practice as literary critics; and
  • be able to communicate their findings to their teachers and fellow students.

Syllabus

This subject will cover the following topics:
  • Restoration and revolution: overview of the period between the English Restoration of 1660 and the French Revolution of 1789
  • The Augustan idea of order (Alexander Pope)
  • Eighteenth century Women's literary voices (Moll Flanders, women poets)
  • Poetry and revolution: William Blake
  • Rediscovering and reimagining the lyric (Wordsworth and Coleridge)
  • Women are citizens, too: Mary Wollstonecraft and the revolution in human rights
  • Poetry, imagination and the return of the medieval: the case of John Keats
  • What it means to be human (Mary Shelley)
  • The Romantic legacy: the Brontes

The information contained in the CSU Handbook was accurate at the date of publication: June 2022. The University reserves the right to vary the information at any time without notice.

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