The History of British and American Literature and Ideas

The course consists of the study of British and American literature and their history of ideas from the Renaissance to Postmodernism.The historical development is studied by examining the history of ideas in conjunction with a close reading of a selection of representative works of literature. In this way, greater importance is given to the student’s own understanding of the significance and function of the literary texts rather than knowledge of historical events. Special attention is given to the contemporary viewpoint and, to a certain extent, the reassessment of historical Anglo-Saxon history of ideas and literature by highlighting aspects such as colonialism, imperialism, power, gender, race and class. The course contains the writing of an academic literary essay and a critical review of the essays of others.