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Unit of study_
ENGL3715: Jane Austen in and out of History
2025 unit information
Jane Austen is an iconic figure, both within the academy and without. In the discipline of literary studies, her novels consolidate generic traditions that are both forward and backward looking. This unit examines Austen's novels in their historical and critical context in order to understand the place of her works, then and now. We will analyse how these novels engage the literary, social and political debates of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. We will also investigate the interpretative traditions her work inaugurated in subsequent centuries and consider the reading processes that allow some novelists to escape their history.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Arts and Social Sciences
| Study level | Undergraduate |
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| Academic unit | English and Writing |
| Credit points | 6 |
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Prerequisites:
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12 credit points at 2000 level in English |
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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ENGL1019 or ENGL2611 |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. assess the relationship between Austen's writings and their historical, literary and cultural context
- LO2. understand Austen’s place in debates about literary value, canonicity, and reading pleasure
- LO3. analyse Austen’s fiction in ways that are imaginative, reasoned and well-supported
- LO4. communicate arguments and ideas effectively and articulately both in writing and to others
- LO5. demonstrate skills in research through the competent use of the library and electronic resources particular to the study of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century literature.
Unit availability
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