EN2K5/3K5 Literature and Revolution, 1640-1660: Turning the World Upside Down (15 CATS)
Module Description
The British Civil Wars (1642-51) and their aftermath in the 1650s were periods of tumultuous ideological change as England went from being a monarchy to being a republic and back again, and changed the structure of the national church. The collapse of censorship in 1642 also led to an extraordinary outburst of literary experimentation. On this module you will read work from this period by authors from a range of ideological positions - royalists and republicans, Anglicans and religious independents and sectaries - and explore how it transformed literature and society. The writers we may read could include John Milton, Anne Bradstreet, Gerrard Winstanley, Lucy Hutchinson, John Dryden, and Anna Trapnel. The texts we read will, among other things, include visionary descriptions of the end of the world, polemical defences of a utopian politics of communal ownership, and poetry that sought to come to terms with the experiences of warfare and violence.
Convenor:
Teaching Methods:
1x1 hr lecture; 1 x 1hr seminar per week.
Module Information 2024/25:
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