Summer 2024 - ENGL 433W D100
Seminar in British Literatures (4)
Class Number: 2721
Delivery Method: In Person
Overview
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Course Times + Location:
May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Wed, 1:30–5:20 p.m.
Burnaby
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Instructor:
Rachel Bodnariuc
rbodnari@sfu.ca
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Prerequisites:
45 units or two 300-division English courses.
Description
CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:
Advanced seminar in British literature. May be organized by author, genre, period, or critical approach. This course may be repeated for credit if a different topic is taught. Writing.
COURSE DETAILS:
Dead Religious Questions: Victorian Literature and Religion
“The most important thing to remember about religion in Victorian England is that there was an awful lot of it” (Altholz 58). At the same time, the nineteenth century saw the expiration of many familiar understandings of God, religion, and faith. Religion was reimagined, in no small part through the works of writers like George Eliot, Charlotte Brontë, and George MacDonald. Our primary entry points are the novels and short stories that take the religious pulse – the questions, the wrestlings, the doubts, the controversies, the celebrations, the ecstasy – of nineteenth-century Britian. Rather than organize the course by categories like religious groups (e.g., Evangelicalism, Catholicism, Judaism), we will approach religion thematically, considering concepts such as the supernatural, providence, doubt, piety, authority, and idolatry.
We will situate our readings within a postsecular literary framework. This framework recognizes the falseness of the secularization thesis, a thesis which assumes that religion will eventually disappear. It also challenges the biases inherent in such an assumption. The nineteenth century has often been understood as a period of religious doubt and skepticism. Religion, so it goes, is no match for heavy hitters like Charles Darwin and higher Biblical criticism. Rather than understand the shifts that took place during the nineteenth century as some sort of harbinger for the now well-worn and arguably threadbare declaration of the death of God, this seminar asks us instead to understand them as part of a larger narrative that reimagines rather than does away with religion.
Grading
- Attendance and Participation 10%
- Presentation 20%
- Short Paper (3-4 pages) 20%
- Proposal and Annotated Bibliography 10%
- Rough draft of research paper (4-5 pages) 10%
- Research Paper (10-12 pages) 30%
Materials
MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:
- Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. 4th ed., Norton, 2016.
- Eliot, George. Silas Marner. Oxford UP, 2017.
- MacDonald, George. The Princess and the Goblin. Broadview, 2014.
Additional required readings will be posted to Canvas, including substantial weekly critical readings.
REQUIRED READING:
Jane Eyre
Silas Marner
The Princess and the Goblin
Additional required readings that are posted to Canvas.
Department Undergraduate Notes:
IMPORTANT NOTE Re 300 and 400 level courses: 75% of spaces in 300 level English courses, and 100% of spaces in 400 level English courses, are reserved for declared English Major, Minor, Extended Minor, Joint Major, and Honours students only, until open enrollment begins.
For all On-Campus Courses, please note the following:
- To receive credit for the course, students must complete all requirements.
- Tutorials/Seminars WILL be held the first week of classes.
- When choosing your schedule, remember to check "Show lab/tutorial sections" to see all Lecture/Seminar/Tutorial times required.
Registrar Notes:
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS
SFU’s Academic Integrity website http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.
Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the university community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the university. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the university. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html