Hande Tekdemir
Spring 2016
Office: TB 529
hande.tekdemir@boun.edu.tr
EL 593: THE ENGLISH NOVEL
Studies in the History and Theory of the Novel
Course Description:
Focusing on a number English novels (with the exception of The Trial), this class aims to study
the development of the English novel from its origins to modern day. Our first goal is to
examine the tradition of the English novel in a chronological framework by focusing on key
literary moments such as the picaresque tradition, realism, aestheticism, modernism, and
postmodernism. To that end, we will contextualize the emergence of the novel and interrogate
the conditions under which it came into being, develop into a mature form, and continue its
existence into the 21st century. As we “historicize” the English novel, we will discuss the
advantages as well as the pitfalls of discussing/limiting the “autonomous” form of the novel
genre within the restrictions of certain literary periods and movements. Is it possible, for
instance, to historicize the English novel, but also avoid developing a crudely historicist
perspective? Why/why not? I will encourage each participant to develop his/her own
perspective on this question.
Our second goal is to develop a theoretical perspective on the genre of the novel by reading
works by leading scholars in this field such as Bakhtin, Lukacs, Watt, among others. As we
“theorize” the novel genre, we will consider the limits and possibilities of the novel as a generic
form. While the theoretical texts will help us better appreciate the novels, we will also consider
the limits of the genre theory in its “application” to the primary material.
Course Requirements:
Each participant will be the discussion leader once throughout the semester. The discussion
leader is expected to generate discussion questions (5-10) for that week, share the questions
with the whole class in advance, read the responses before coming to class, and briefly comment
on the responses. Please note that this is not a presentation, and this will be performed by each
participant only once before the Spring Break.
There will be 5 short weekly responses throughout the semester (1000 words each), written in
response to the discussion questions. You will be able to choose the week for which you’d like
to write a response. All responses will be submitted online (CIMS or class wiki –we will finalize
this in our first meeting), to be circulated among class participants.
In addition to generating discussion questions/being the discussion leader, and the five short
responses, you will write a 10-15 page final paper in three stages: write an abstract (one
paragraph), develop the abstract into an 8-page conference paper, and develop the conference
paper into a 10-15 page final paper. In your final paper, I will encourage you to work on a
contemporary English novel, preferably by Martin Amis, Ian McEwan, Zadie Smith, Hanif
Kureishi, Kazuo Ishiguro, among others, but you will also be able to continue working on class
material, should you prefer to do so.
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Evaluation:
Class participation
% 20
Response papers (5 in total, 1000 words each)
% 25
Discussion questions +discussion leader (sign up asap)
% 15
Abstract + conference presentation + Final paper
% 40
Schedule of Readings:
You can buy any edition of the novels, or check them out from the library. All the other readings
are in the Course Reader [CR], or uploaded to the Moodle. The Course Reader is available at
Günel Photocopy Shop.
The reading load is heavy, but also subject to change: we can always make adjustments in
accordance with our pace throughout the semester.
Week 1:
Feb. 12
“What is a Novel?” by Terry Eagleton (@ Moodle)
Week 2:
Feb. 19
Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders
Week 3:
Feb. 26
Week 4:
March 4
Week 5:
March 11
John Bender, From Imagining the Penitentiary (optional) [CR]
Ian Watt, From The Rise of the Novel [CR]
Michael McKeon, “Generic Transformation and Social Change: Rethinking the
Rise of the Novel” (@ Moodle).
Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South
Marthe Robert, From Origins of the Novel (optional) [CR]
Georg Lukacs, From The Theory of the Novel [CR]
Mikhail Bakhtin, From The Dialogic Imagination [CR]
George Levine, From The Realistic Imagination [CR]
Week 6:
March 18
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Week 7:
March 25
Virginia Woolf, Orlando
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Week 8:
April 1
Week 9:
April 8
Week 10:
April 15
Jose Ortega Y Gasset, “Notes on the Novel” [CR]
Virginia Woolf, “Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown” and “Modern Fiction” [CR]
Franz Kafka, The Trial
Georg Lukacs, From Realism in Our Time: Literature and the Class Struggle [CR]
Ihab Hassan, From The Dismemberment of the Orpheus [CR]
SPRING BREAK
Week 11:
April 29
John Fowles (TBA)
Week 12:
May 6
John Fowles (TBA)
Week 13:
May 13
Last week of classes
Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
[depending on our progress throughout the semester, we might consider
returning to one of the readings above instead of discussing Ishiguro’s novel this
week]
Week 14:
Class Conference (TBA)
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