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| 0626-2562-01 | Crime and the Victorian Novel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| FACULTY OF HUMANITIES | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Crime and the Victorian Novel
BA Course
Instructor
Prof. Elana Gomel
Phone
03-6409683
Office
Webb 510
Office Hours
Wed. 14-16(by appointment)
Texts:
Primary:
Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist
Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White
Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Lady Audley’s Secret
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Uncle Silas
Robert Louis Stevenson. The Strange Story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles
Secondary:
Julian Symons, Bloody Murder
Patricia Merrivale, Detecting Fiction
Elana Gomel, Bloodscripts
Other texts may be added/substituted during the course of the semester
Description: Detective or mystery fiction is undoubtedly one of the most popular genre of fiction today. But what is its origin? Why did it come into being in the Victorian era? What is the relationship between actual crime and its representation in literature? How did the Victorian obsessions with violence, lower classes, gender and social disarray impact the narrative convention of crime fiction as we know it today? In this course we will try to answer these questions by looking at a representative selection of Victorian crime novels and tracing the connection between mystery fiction and social history.
Requirements: two short papers, a midterm, and a final take-home exam.