Nineteenth-century short fiction
Shorter fictions, including sketches, tales, novellas and short stories, constitute an important element of the Victorian literary landscape, although they tend to get less critical attention than the long three-decker novel of the period. Shorter literary forms gained their popularity as the nineteenth century progressed, a phenomenon which reflected the transformations in the publishing market, and especially the constant growth of periodical publishing, as well as the changing expectations of readers, growing in number after Forster’s Education Act of 1870, and desiring to incorporate their reading into their increasingly hectic lives.
The seminar will concentrate on the discussion of Victorian short fiction in a wider cultural context of the nineteenth century. The texts are selected to enable the students to observe the thematic and generic variety of short fiction as well as the changing literary conventions, and thus trace the transformations in the literary market of the time. They will include works by most recognised writers of the time, like Charles Dickens or Thomas Hardy, but also by writers of lesser renown, and now often forgotten, like Harriet Martineau.
- Teacher: Agnieszka Setecka