Literature & Science in the Nineteenth Century: Evolution, Degeneration, and the Mind

Overview

This course will explore the diverse ways that writers responded to the dramatic developments in science in the nineteenth century, from Darwinian evolution and degeneration theory to the fascination with psychology, mesmerism and the mind. These emergent bodies of knowledge transformed conceptions of the self and society, and we will examine the strategies used by writers to engage with new conceptions of time, fears about progress, and the challenge to religious beliefs presented by the prospect of a directionless universe. Considering the emergence of social science and anthropology, as well as developments in evolutionary biology, psychology and the occult sciences, we will explore the ways science helped to shape nineteenth-century ideologies of race, class, and gender, and led to experiments with new and popular subgenres (including science fiction, imperial adventure, detective fiction and the utopian/dystopian novel).

Learning Objectives

You will gain an understanding of the ways science participated in nineteenth-century constructions of race and empire, class and gender, and informed debates over subjectivity and social relations. You should be able to relate developments in biology, psychology and social science to fictional modes of representation, including developments in realist fiction, fantasy, and subgenre fiction. You will gain a more nuanced grasp of relationships between science, literature and culture in the nineteenth century.

Skills

You should build on skills developed on ENG2070, including the ability to relate texts to their historical contexts, the ability to engage with texts in both thematic and formal terms, the ability to relate scientific developments to literary developments (including the rise of science fiction, imperial adventure, detective fiction and the utopian novel), the ability to contextualise and question relationships between literature and science in the nineteenth-century, and to explore the dynamic relationships between fictional and non-fictional writings, the development of a critical awareness of the way science shaped (and was shaped by) nineteenth-century politics and culture. You will also acquire enhanced skills of independent thought and research, group-work skills and oral presentation skills.

Assessment