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Instructors: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Rainer Emig
Event type:
online: Lecture
Displayed in timetable as:
05.874.125
Hours per week:
2
Language of instruction:
Englisch
Min. | Max. participants:
- | -
Requirements / organisational issues:
This lecture series will cover a transformative period in British history, literature, and culture: the last years of the long Victorian era. It is characterised by a sense of achievement in terms of political stability, economic wealth, and Imperial power, but also by growing anxieties - e.g. about the growing role of the working class, women's demands for greater rights, and increasing tensions in the colonies and between colonial powers. Literature responds to this in a number of ways, some of which are usually grouped together under the term "decadence". Artists like Oscar Wilde ridiculed many of the norms and rules of British society. Other decadent writers describe alcoholism, drug addiction, and the decline of and simultaneous yearning for religion. New plays introduced shocking themes to the British stage, such as prostitution. Others celebrated, but many also denounced the so-called New Woman.
The lectures will introduce these themes and related texts and works of art. They will also provide lists of critical texts for further readings as well as self-test questions to assess students' progress. A short exam of 45 minutes will conclude the lecture (please check your Prüfungsordnung if you have to take it).
Recommended preparatory reading:
Gail Marshall, ed. (2007): The Cambridge Companion to the fin de siècle. Cambridge University Press. Print.
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