ENG4309 – Men and Women in Henry James
Course content
The course treats the authorship of Henry James (1843-1916), one of American literature's greatest stylists and formal innovators. James's many novels and short stories often deal with encounters between cultures and between genders. The course will offer students the opportunity to study a representative selection of James's texts with a main focus on his representation of gender and sexuality in the middle and upper classes in the second half of the nineteenth century. A historical and contextualizing approach to the literary works will be supplemented by a formal analysis based on narrative theory.
Learning outcome
Students will develop an in-depth understanding of Henry James's fiction and the major features of the middle-class gender culture in the United States in the second half of the nineteenth century. Further, students will develop their analytical and critical abilities with reference to literary texts that focus on gender and sexuality.
Admission
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.
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Minimum 3, maximum 15 students.
Prerequisites
Formal prerequisite knowledge
For students outside the literature program at least 20 study points of English-language literature, English grammar or British or American civilization are required.
Teaching
The course is taught throughout the semester with 2 hours per week, 28 hours in all. Half-way through the semester there is a period of one (autumn term) or two (spring term) reading weeks without teaching, to be used for individual study and work on assignments. The students are supposed to attend the course regularly.
Examination
Students will give an oral presentation (pass/fail) on a given topic and work on a term paper of 10 pages, that may later form a part of their master's thesis. The written work will be graded on a scale where A to E are passing grades and F is a failing grade.
Other
With an extended reading list, this course can be taken as a 15 credit "hovedemne" for "hovedfag" in English.