SE2633: Romantic Circles: Collaboration, Radicalism and Creativity 1770-1830

School English Literature
Department Code ENCAP
Module Code SE2633
External Subject Code 100319
Number of Credits 20
Level L6
Language of Delivery English
Module Leader Dr Anna Mercer
Semester Spring Semester
Academic Year 2022/3

Outline Description of Module

This module explores literary circles in the Romantic period, examining how individual authors influenced each other’s work through their writing and by working collaboratively. The module invites you to review the concept of ‘Romanticism’ in British history and reflect on the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as a period of radical discourse. Our critical perspective focuses on how the writers under study relied on intellectual dialogue and literary interaction to be creative and productive, thus rejecting the concept of the isolated, lone Romantic genius.

You will study politically charged groups of writers, literary patrons, literary salons, published volumes with multiple authors, generational literary influence, literary couples and even literary rivalries. You will explore these topics by considering the legacy of authorship, examining literary celebrity and reputation, and the effects of interaction on personal output. You will also examine if the ‘radicalism’ and other aspects of the writings of the period 1770–1830 have any relevance to debates about equality, diversity and intersectionality today.

On completion of the module a student should be able to

  • discuss the relationship between social and creative interaction and the production of literature in the Romantic period
  • recognise a range of genres of literature and different authors from the Romantic period
  • compare literary works alongside evidence of a sound knowledge of historical context and critical theories
  • evaluate how the study of literary collaboration and the influence of literary peers in the Romantic period can inform our understanding of creativity today

How the module will be delivered

This module will be delivered through a mixture of synchronous and asynchronous activities, as part of this programme’s blended provision, which will include on-campus and online teaching and support.

The precise mode of delivery and details – subject to Welsh Government and Public Health Wales guidance – of the teaching and support activities will be made available at the start of the semester via Learning Central.

Skills that will be practised and developed

Academic skills: this module will develop and practise skills in close reading, independent scholarly research and critical thinking, while paying attention to questions of genre and historical contexts. Assessment will develop skills in recognising the wider application of literary studies to socio-political issues surrounding the perception of creativity and critical studies of literature in the twenty-first century. This method will enhance awareness of social change in the period, including examining a variety of themes including gender, class, and race, as well as the limitations of the thinking on these issues. Analysis will focus on a range of canonical and non-canonical writers, and moves beyond the traditional poem or novel, including pamphlets, travelogues, journals and letters.

Employability skills: these include the ability to synthesise information, negotiate complex ideas, communicate in group-based discussion, and write and present clear and compelling arguments in a professional manner. Student-led research will encourage skills of information collation, selection and synthesis.

How the module will be assessed

The methods of summative assessment for this module are detailed in the table below.

Formative work to be submitted before each summative assessment: you can choose between submitting, as appropriate, an essay plan/structure, synopses of essay topic options (if undecided) or sample paragraph/s; for creative assignments, you can submit working drafts of parts of your composition, as arranged with the workshop convenor.

THE OPPORTUNITY FOR REASSESSMENT IN THIS MODULE:
As with School policy, failed or unsubmitted assessments can be retaken during the August resit period.

Assessment Breakdown

Type % Title Duration(hrs)
Written Assessment 30 Blog Post N/A
Written Assessment 70 Essay N/A

Syllabus content

Indicative Syllabus:

  • The myth of the solitary genius
  • Pre-Romantic women writers
  • Influences from the continent: Rousseau, Madame de Staël and travelling texts 
  • William Godwin, Mary Wollstonecraft and the 1790s
  • Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth
  • Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley
  • 1816 and the Geneva Summer
  • Metropolitan Romantics
  • Poet-children: Hartley Coleridge and Sara Coleridge
  • Dorothy Wordsworth’s legacy and influence   

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