Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

The study of selected works of late seventeenth century and eighteenth century literature. May include some writing from outside Britain, and may be organized by various critical issues or approaches.

COURSE DETAILS:

The Eighteenth-Century Utopian Impulse

First published in 1759, Samuel Johnson’s The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia describes a young prince whose dissatisfaction with his life of ease and luxury in the Happy Valley leads him to abandon his perfect society in search of new experiences. This tale’s ambivalent depiction of an ideal society is part of a larger eighteenth century trend, in which writers explored the possibilities and limitations of new ways of structuring society. The readings in this course will trace utopian impulses through the literature and thought of the eighteenth century, from fictionalized travel narratives to essays arguing for all-female communities of learning to sentimental novels that saw shared feeling as the basis for a more just society. 

This course will be divided into three parts. In the first, we’ll think about travel and encounters with different cultures as a means for imagining alternate ways of organizing society. We’ll read real travel writing such as Lady Mary Wortley Montague’s Turkish Embassy Letters and fictional travel accounts in the mode of More’s Utopia by Margaret Cavendish and Jonathan Swift alongside Olaudah Equiano’s description of his African homeland. The second part will focus on utopian retreats, including the all-female communities imagined by Mary Astell and Sarah Scott, as well as the Happy Valley depicted in Johnson’s Rasselas. In the third and final part of the course, we’ll read texts that grapple with how to form alternative communities within the world as it existed, whether rooted in shared intellectual pursuits, such as those that formed the basis for the Bluestocking society, or sentimental friendship, as in Henry McKenzie’s Man of Feeling.

This course will be delivered through a mix of synchronous and asynchronous modes. Each week, I’ll provide a few short, asynchronous lectures that give historical context and outline key concepts. We’ll also have between an hour and 90 minutes of synchronous class each week during the scheduled time, when we will discuss the week’s readings.

Grading

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

Both of the required books should be readily available as print and digital texts. I strongly recommend acquiring print copies, but it is not mandatory. All other readings will be provided via the Canvas website.

I will not be ordering books via the bookstore this semester. While you are welcome to use any edition of the required texts that you have handy, I recommend the Broadview editions for their excellent introductions and contextual material. You can order Rasselas, Millenium Hall, and The Man of Feeling via the Broadview Press website.

REQUIRED READING: