Reverberations of Terror: 1789-1900

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2008:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

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This subject introduces nineteenth-century political writing, tracing the cultures of radicalism, reaction and liberal reform that emerged after the Napoleonic Wars. It focuses on the age of mass resistance, and the often-fearful reactions dissent inspired in social and political elites. Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities exemplifies the terror reverberating throughout the century, with its graphic crowd scenes and depictions of the underclass in revolt. Beginning with Mansfield Park and closing with the New Woman‚ novel of the fin de sicle, we will examine literary responses to political issues including Abolitionism, the Napoleonic Wars, the heroic age of popular radicalism, the Peterloo Massacre, the French revolutions (1830 and 1848), Chartism, the Indian Mutiny‚ and the emergence of the women's movement. Students will address concerns including the rise of realism and its overtly political agenda. They will consider fiction, poetry and political prose to discover how these different media informed each other. Students will encounter polemical writing alongside well-known canonical texts to gain an overview of the political climate of the long nineteenth century. On completion of this subject students will have gained an understanding of how this time of great change and uncertainty was captured in poetry and prose.

• acquire the following skills: research: through competent use of library, and other (including online) information sources; through the successful definition of areas of inquiry and methods of research;

• critical thinking and analysis: through use of recommended reading, essay writing and tutorial discussion; through the questioning of accepted wisdom and the ability to shape and strengthen persuasive judgments and arguments; through attention to detail in reading material; and through openness to new ideas and the development of critical self-awareness;

• theoretical thinking: through use of recommended reading, essay writing and tutorial discussion; through a productive engagement with relevant methodologies and paradigms in literary studies and the broader humanities;

• creative thinking: through essay writing and tutorial discussion; through the innovative conceptualising of problems and an appreciation of the role of creativity in critical analysis;

• social, ethical and cultural understanding: through use of recommended reading, essay writing and tutorial discussion; through the social contextualization of arguments and judgments; through adaptations of knowledge to new situations and openness to new ideas; through the development of critical self-awareness in relation to an understanding of other cultures and practices;

• intelligent and effective communication of knowledge and ideas: through essay preparation, planning and writing as well as tutorial discussion; through effective dissemination of ideas from recommended reading and other relevant information sources; through clear definition of areas of inquiry and methods of research; through confidence to express ideas in public forums;

• time management and planning: through the successful organization of workloads; through disciplined self-direction and the ability to meet deadlines.