Literary and Visual Culture in Eighteenth-Century Britain
Full course for one semester. This course is designed to introduce students to the literary and visual cultures of eighteenth-century Britain and their connections. We will read prose by Defoe, Johnson, Walpole, and Austen; poetry by Pope, Swift, Gray, Goldsmith, Blake, Collier, and Duck; and drama by Gay. We will also study discussions of aesthetics by Burke and Reynolds and the work of artists Hogarth, Reynolds, Gainsborough, Angelica Kauffman, and Wright of Derby, as well as the role of patrons such as Lady Mary Wortley Montagu.
Upon completion, students will be able to:
- Throughout our readings and viewings we will return to the following guiding questions: how are stories narrated, in images as well as in words? What are the major aesthetic categories of this period and how do they operate to construct aesthetic experience? Do these categories span literary and visual culture, or are they different in each form? What are their modern legacies?
Grade Basis: L
Credit hours: 3.0
Lecture hours: 3.0
Prerequisites: