Module Identifier GG35820  
Module Title GEOGRAPHY AND BRITISH LITERATURE 1500 - 1800  
Academic Year 2003/2004  
Co-ordinator Dr Robert J Mayhew  
Semester Intended for use in future years  
Next year offered N/A  
Next semester offered N/A  
Course delivery Lecture   20 hours of lectures and discussions in a 10 x 2 hour timetable slot.  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Exam2 Hours answer 2 questions  50%
Semester Assessment Essay: Research essay of 2,500 words on a prescribed topic.  50%
Supplementary Assessment same format   

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module students should :-


Aims

This module aims to introduce students to the history of geography and geography's interweaving with literature, seeing both as forms of human enquiry.

Content

The period from 1500 to 1800 saw seminal changes in the geography of Britain. Britain itself was forged out of the multiple kingdoms of England, Scotland and Wales. Within that nation, massive changes were effected in towns and countryside by industrialisation, population growth and other social and economic forces. Beyond the nation, an empire was built by the British in North America, India and later in Africa, all this occurring in the face of opposition from both indigenous peoples and rival imperialist powers. This course looks at the ways in which these massive shifts in the geography of Britain were reflected in English literature, broadly conceived to include not only novels and poetry, but also essays, travel accounts and other tracts. In this course, we will see how Britian was conceptualised at the time of its construction and how the British saw their European neighbours and the wider world, all this through the eyes of some of the greatest writers the English language has produced: Shakespeare, Milton and Johnson, for example.

Areas covered:

Reading Lists

Books
Chambers, Douglas (1996) The Reinvention of the World : English Writing 1650-1750 Arnold ISBN 0-340-58478-5
Colley, Linda (1992) Britons : Forging the Nation Yale U.P. ISBN 0-300-05925-6
Hadfield, Andrew (1998) Literature, Travel and Colonial Writing in the English Renaissance Oxford U.P. ISBN 0-198-18480-8
Weinbrot, Howard (1997) Britannia's Issue Cambridge U.P. ISBN 0-521-32519-6
Williams, Raymond (1973) The Country and the City Oxford U.P. ISBN 0-195-19810-7

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6