In this course we will trace the different positions on realism in fiction from the romance/novel debate of the late 17th century to the Modernist rejection of the late Victorian ‘materialists’. This historical survey, which will acquaint us with changing notions of what constitutes ‘reality’, will be complemented with contemporary theories of fiction. While the seminar will focus on these conceptual aspects, the Lektürekurs will be dedicated to the reading of some realist novels to establish a dialogue between theory and novelistic practice. The seminar will be largely based on the following anthology: Walter F. Greiner and Fritz Kemmler, eds., Realismustheorien in England(1692-1919): Texte zur historischen Dimension der englischen Realismusdebatte (Tübingen: Narr). The first two novels to be read in the Lektürekurs are: Henry Fielding, Joseph Andrews (1742); Jane Austen, Emma (1815). |
