ENGL 455 00U - Major Authors - Jane Austen and Feminism

Campus: Urbana-Champaign

Description:

Intensive study of the work of one or two major authors. Course Information: 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. May be repeated with permission of English advising office to a maximum of 6 undergraduate hours if topics vary. May be repeated for graduate credit if topics vary. Prerequisite: One year of college literature or consent of instructor.

Special Instructions:

English 455 - Topic: -Jane Austen and Feminism- - The politics of Jane Austen-s fiction continues to spark lively debate within the vast critical industry that has sprung up, since the 1980s, around all things Austen. For some, Austen was a quintessentially conservative novelist, seemingly untouched by the revolutionary changes taking place in Europe during her teenage years-a staunch defender of tradition and duty over individual rights, and of oppressive gender norms over women-s agency. For others, Austen was a novelist ahead of her time, whose commitment to gender equality is implicit in her novels- call to women to cultivate good judgment and seek -rational happiness,- and in her highly satirical depiction of patriarchs and other pillars of society in virtually all her novels. Outside of academia, we see a similar division of opinion about Austen-s politics, with her work being invoked, on the one hand, by Alt-Right websites, and, on the other hand, by the ev

Option 1

Course Level: Graduate

Credit: 3

Term(s): Spring