EEWL10010 Reading European Literatures

Academic Year 2020/2021

What exactly is meant by the baroque? By Romanticism? By postmodernism? What do we mean by classical tragedy, surrealist poetry, existentialist drama?

The aim of this module is to introduce students to a number of key literary and aesthetic movements which have marked and shaped European culture from the Renaissance to today, and to examine the key thematic and stylistic features which characterized these movements, situated in their respective historical and political contexts. Emphasis will be on the literatures of continental Europe; hence the module is complementary to ENG 10050 and ENG 10060 (core for students of the English, European and World Literatures programme).

Given the limits of the 12-week trimester, it will by necessity be selective rather than exhaustive, and will include an introduction to key writers and ideas associated with some of the following: humanism, the baroque, classicism, the Enlightenment, Romanticism, realism, modernism, avant-garde, surrealism, the literature of political engagement, existentialism, postmodernism.

In addition to developing an understanding of literary history in its traditional sense, the module will examine the limitations of such broad designations, will aim to nuance notions of periodisation, and to problematize the highly contested notion of a canon.

Central to the module is the textual close-reading which will be done in small-group seminars. In assessments, EEWL students may be expected to demonstrate engagement with the source material in the language they are studying.