University of St Andrews

Key information

SCOTCAT credits : 30

ECTS credits : 15

Level : SCQF level 10

Semester: 1

Availability restrictions: Not automatically available to General Degree students.

Planned timetable: 10am - 12 Thurs

The Victorians are infamous for seeking to standardise the English language, either by imposing fixed rules on its grammar or by rejecting innovation and variation in favour of a supposedly pure form of English. But how fair is this reputation for linguistic intolerance? At the same time as Victorian linguists were trying to police English, diverse forms of the language were proliferating around the globe, and literature played a key part in both trends. Literary writers promoted and criticised Victorian theories of language; they wrote in and about a wide range of regional and national dialects and idioms; and they developed idiosyncratic writing styles that subverted linguistic conventions. This module's goal is to study the global diversity of Victorian literature written in English, and to show that the close reading of literary language can help us to understand the political debates about nationalism, imperialism, race, and class that shaped Victorian theorisations of English.

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisite(s): Before taking this module you must take EN2003 and take EN2004

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact: 1 two-hour seminar (X 10 weeks)

Scheduled learning hours: 20

Guided independent study hours: 280

Assessment pattern

As used by St Andrews: Coursework = 100%


Re-assessment: Exam = 100%

Personnel

Module coordinator: Dr G P Tate
Module teaching staff: Dr Gregory Tate
Module coordinator email gpt4@st-andrews.ac.uk

Intended learning outcomes

• Demonstrate a comprehensive critical knowledge of the reciprocal relations between literature and linguistics in the Victorian period.
• Understand the global political debates (about imperialism, nationalism, race, and class) that informed writing in and about the English language in the nineteenth century.
• Evaluate different critical and historical interpretations of Victorian linguistics and literature.
• Engage in the close critical analysis of literary and linguistic texts.
• Develop arguments based on textual evidence and on contextual and theoretical research.
• Communicate those arguments orally (to be demonstrated in spoken contributions to class discussions) and in writing (to be assessed through written assessments).