English

Made from the stuff of dreams and nightmares, "the fantastic" in literature poses questions about the nature of reality in a changing world. As science transformed understanding of life in the 18th and 19th centuries, literature placed fears and hopes for the future alongside the oldest beliefs and superstitions, creating a new genre of the fantastic, a modern world of monsters and phantoms where nothing is quite what it seems. This course explores the development of the supernatural and fantastic in European literature from fairytales to science fiction, and examines contemporary resonances, including the enduring appeal of a Hollywood monster and a cult internet meme.

The Early Modern period in England – by which we mean, very roughly, 1550-1660 – was a time of immense intellectual, geographical and literary expansion. The period offers us a double perspective: looking back to classical learning and achievement and using that as a model for the present, and offering us a glance forward to what we now think of as ‘the modern’ – that is, modern subjectivities, sexualities, politics and cultures. This course is designed to introduce texts from a period that stretched from the reign of Henry VIII to the English Civil War, with a focus on the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. The course tracks the creative intersection of individual writers, literary forms, and the spirit of the age, and opens up a set of new magnificent texts for students to immerse themselves in, through which they develop a sense of the culture out of which they emerged. The primary texts studied in this course are chosen to reflect a broad generic range typical of the Renaissance, including prose, drama, masque and lyric and epic poetry.  

This course explores the significance of James Joyce's epic novel Ulysses and places it in its historical and cultural context. The course begins with two classes considering Joyce's work before its publication (specifically Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man). The remaining eight weeks are devoted entirely to Ulysses. Through this study students will gain an awareness of the work's significance within the critical discourses of modernism and realism. The course assumes no prior knowledge of Irish history or culture but students will be expected to engage with these contexts as the module progresses. Recommended reading will be made available before each seminar.