ENG 3550 THE RISE OF THE NOVEL
The novel is the most popular literary genre, be it high art (A Hundred Years of Solitude) or low trash (Fifty Shades of Grey). But when – and why – did it develop? This course traces the novel to its eighteenth-century beginnings, reading the earliest novels with close attention to the cultural forces that shaped the genre: individualism, mass literacy, shopping, celebrity, global travel, print culture, the development of authorship and the invention of the canon. We'll consider how the novel changed shape over the centuries, and make connections between the early 1700s and the present day.
Course Types
Expression, Literature, Advanced Studies