Victorians Abroad

Module description

Some of them travelled for pleasure with a Murray’s Guide to hand; some were cramped in steerage on their way to a better life – or so they hoped – in the colonies or in the new world; some were banished from Britain’s shores; some travelled because they were the servants of Empire and they worked for the British Civil Service abroad; A few travelled to places no Europeans had visited before and sent back accounts of their explorations.  Whatever their reasons, more British people travelled abroad during the 19th century than in any previous century.  This module breaks free of the national boundaries of the ‘Victorian’ world and considers the numerous encounters with ‘abroad’ that are recorded in literary texts, paintings, letters and diaries of the 19th century.

Assessment details

Coursework

1 x 4,000 word essay (100%)

Educational aims & objectives

The module aims to:

• encourage students to think about how literary forms were modified and restructured by this unprecedented encounter with the non-local.
• engage students in the close study of literary texts across genres to assess the different ways in which Victorian literary writing registers the global.

By the end of the module, the students will be able to demonstrate intellectual, transferable and practicable skills appropriate to a Level 6 module and in particular will be able to demonstrate: A wide knowledge of the historical and geo - political profile of the nineteenth century. A precise knowledge of recent literary theories which support the reading of Victorian literature in a global context. The module requires no previous knowledge of the Victorian period.

Teaching pattern

 One two-hour seminar weekly

Suggested reading list

Lord Byron, 4th Canto of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Casa Guidi Windows

Charles Dickens, American Notes

Susanna Moodie, Roughing it in the Bush

Charles Darwin, Evolutionary Writings

Mary Seacole, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands

Toru Dutt, Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan

Rudyard Kipling, Kim

Module description disclaimer

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Please note that the module descriptions above are related to the current academic year and are subject to change.