| CODE | LAS2066 | ||||||
| TITLE | Horror, Mystery and the Supernatural in British Victorian Fiction | ||||||
| UM LEVEL | H - Higher Level | ||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 6 | ||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Centre for the Liberal Arts and Sciences | ||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The Unit will focus on the prose fiction of British Victorian writers that features horror, mystery and the supernatural. Generally classified as Gothic fiction, these works were profusely written and avidly read during this period. Despite important advances in science and technology, superstition persisted and there was a keen interest in mesmerism and spiritualism, for instance, at the time. Furthermore, due to the increased accessibility to printed matter and a more widespread literacy, the criminal underworld became a more tangible reality for the masses. Victorian writers were often inspired by real-life mysteries and crimes, providing the curious Victorian reader with a vast choice of texts, from the penny dreadful to the more literary texts by established writers. Victorian authors clearly drew upon eighteenth-century Gothic fiction, but they also breathed new life into the genre by referring to important developments, like, for example, medical discoveries and photography, and by adopting innovative writing techniques. Seemingly concerned with entertainment and the shocking of the nerves, these texts tackled nonetheless a broad spectrum of serious concerns that intrigued, disturbed and haunted the Victorians. The Unit covers various related subgenres and purposely includes short stories, novellas and novels, namely, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Wilkie Collins’ The Moonstone, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, George Eliot’s The Lifted Veil and the short stories, ‘The Old Nurse’s Story’ by Elizabeth Gaskell and ‘The Cold Embrace’ by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. This wide scope will enable a fuller appreciation of the Victorians’ fascination with this type of fiction. The lectures will include a careful analysis of the selected texts to highlight the idiosyncratic skills of the authors and their contribution to the genre. Furthermore, different media, particularly videos and films, will be used and contemporary and recent critical and theoretical studies will be consulted to facilitate the student’s understanding of these texts. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the Unit the student will be able to: - Appreciate the literary relevance and rich variety of Victorian Gothic fiction - Distinguish between different subgenres, including horror fiction, vampire fiction, ghost stories, mystery stories and crime fiction - Discern and appreciate recurrent thematic concerns in Victorian Gothic fiction - Discern and appreciate idiosyncratic writing styles of the selected Victorian writers - Locate the influence of Victorian Gothic fiction on the literature of the twentieth and twenty-first century 2. Skills: By the end of the Unit the student will be able to: - Speak at length and in depth about Gothic fiction and the texts under discussion - Write structured critical evaluations of the texts under discussion - Write about the various aspects and thematic concerns of the subgenres under discussion Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Primary Texts: Novels: - Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897); various editions - The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (1868); various editions - The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1901-02); various editions Novellas: - The Lifted Veil by George Eliot (1859); various editions - Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886); various editions Short Stories: - ‘The Cold Embrace’ by Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1865); e-text - The Old Nurse’s Story’ by Elizabeth Gaskell (1852); e-text N.B.: These texts are accessible online; see Internet Archive ( https://archive.org ) and HaithiTrust Digital Library ( https://hathitrust.org ) Supplementary Reading: - Markman Ellis, The History of Gothic Fiction (Edinburgh University Press, 2000). - Lawrence Frank, Victorian Detective Fiction and the Nature of Evidence: The Scientific Investigations of Poe, Dickens and Doyle (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003). - Robert Haas and Elton E. Smith, The Haunted Mind: The Supernatural in Victorian Literature (Scarecrow Press, 1999). - Robert Mighall, A Geography of Victorian Gothic Fiction: Mapping History’s Nightmares (Oxford University Press, 2003). - Andrew Smith, Gothic Literature (Edinburgh University Press, 2007). |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Graziella Stringos |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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