Survey Lecture English/British Literary History, 16th-19th Century

In this first of a two-part lecture, you will be introduced to major developments in British literature from the 16^th to the 19^th century. An overview of English, Scottish, Welsh (and Irish) writers and their texts will be complemented, when and where necessary, with excursions into political, cultural and social history as well as the history of events and ideas. Reflections on the nature and the function of literary history, of genre and (literary) theory as well as critical discussions of selected texts will contribute to an overview of the larger story of English Literature since ca 1500.

Supplementary reading: Paul Poplawski (ed.), English Literature in Context (2^nd edition), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.

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