123043 PS Literary Studies / Proseminar Literature (2021S)

In this course, the focus will first be on concepts of insanity throughout the Victorian period, by engaging with the historical as well as cultural contexts in order to establish a solid foundation before delving into literary representations and twentieth-century rewritings in various media. We will analyse three literary texts in order to gain insight into how the theme is engaged with during the Victorian era and after, with works written in 1846, 1892 and 1938 (please see list of primary material below). Whether it concerns male or female characters, whether it involves an institution and whether a resolution of any sort is provided, we will discuss the implications in terms of power and representation against the backdrop of each of the work’s historical and cultural context. In addition to this, the course also aims to explore different twentieth-century rewritings of these three literary texts: we will look at a musical theatre adaptation, a TV series episode and a film, in order to analyse not only how they function as adaptations and/or rewritings, but also how the cultural topos of insanity travels diachronically and the potential transformations it undergoes.

The course will also enable participants to develop their practical skills in the critical analysis of literary texts, and will tackle the basic techniques of academic writing, such as how to formulate a research question and how to structure a paper. Participants will gain knowledge of some nineteenth- and twentieth-century texts and media adaptations in relation to a precise cultural topos, as well as an understanding of how literary texts and their potential rewritings function and evolve in response to significant historical and cultural contexts.