Since antiquity - if not before - gardens have played a major role in human cuture as a form of controlling and shaping nature. Hence, it is not surprising that the topos garden is of importance in our literatures. We will investigate the representation of gardens - and the houses that go with them - in English literature since the early modern period. Beginning with Philip Sidney`s (re)construction of arcadia in the late 16th century we will discuss early modern country house poetry, Milton`s Puritan notion of the “garden of Eden”, Erasmus Darwins`s scientific ideas about a “botanic garden”, Romantic as well as Victorian notions of English gardens/parks, and 20th-century “garden peorty”.
The Lektürekurs is designed as a close reading of texts from the seminar and additional texts.
Participants are expected to register before the beginning of the term: stephan.lieske@rz.hu-berlin.de |
