In many respects, science looked very different in the eighteenth century from the way it is practiced today. It is not only that conceptions changed in the course of scientific progress, and that many new concepts emerged. There are also striking differences and changes in the cultural role of science, and the social settings in which it was practices and became relevant. Some of the best-known novels of the eighteenth century represented scientific ideas and practices of their time, and engaged with them in a number of ways.
In our course, we will read and examine two outstanding eighteenth century novels with a special focus on how they represent science and scientific conceptions. These novels have also become famous for their narrative techniques and innovations, for their critical engagement with contemporary culture and politics, and for their specific constructions of English and British identities. Such aspects will therefore also play a role in our analysis and our discussions. Our focus will nevertheless be on the ways in which the scientific conceptions and controversies of the time find their way into these narratives, and on the critical and sometimes satirical ways in which the novels engage with the scientific cultures of their day.
Please purchase and read (if possible in advance of the first meeting) the following two novels in the following editions:
Jonathan Swift, Gullivers Travels [1726], ed. Claude Rawson, Oxford: Oxford World’s Classics, 2005.
Laurence Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman [1759-1767], ed. by Melvyn New and Joan New, introd. by Christopher Ricks, Melvyn New. Harmondsworth: Penguin Classics, 2003. [concentrate on Volumes 1–4, 1759-61]
For students taking this course as a regular Aufbaumodul in the BA Anglistik, the requirement for 6 KP will be “Referat mit schriftlicher Ausarbeitung” (group presentation of 15 to 20 minutes, written term paper based on a particular aspect of the presentation of 10 to 12 pages). All alternatives to be discussed directly with the seminar leader.