ENG 207: British Literature Legacies

Goal: Each semester, this course focuses on two or three texts as we explore the cultural and biographical context in which they were created, then trace their legacy up to our present day. Through this examination, students acquire knowledge of British literature and culture, as well as a richer understanding of ways in which subsequent generations (including our own) perpetuate and challenge ideas about power, privilege, love, and loss handed down through the stories they tell.
Content: Much of today’s literature has its origins in texts by British authors writing decades or even centuries ago, and we gain new insights on the stories we tell by considering how they derive from and comment on these writers’ legacies. In this class, we’ll go back to the roots of modern texts, considering (for example) how contemporary horror fiction reworks conventions pioneered by British writers of the 1790s, or how modern action-adventure heroes mirror the protagonist of the Old English epic Beowulf, or how the many film versions of Jane Austen’s novels reconstruct her heroines. Students will read, discuss, and write about selected works of British literature, as well as more modern adaptations of those texts. Content will vary from semester to semester.
Prerequisite(s): ENG 101, or permission of instructor.
Credit: 3
Degree Level: Undergraduate