Extraordinary Gentlemen: Masculinity and Popular Fiction in the Nineteenth Century - AHE3221

Assessment 1: Written plan

500-word plan

Assessment 1: Written Assignment

EITHER a video essay OR a recorded screencast equivalent to 4000 words exploring the appeal and the problems posed by the set texts for twenty-first century contexts and/or readers.

Project

Assessment 2: Oral Assessment

Viva voce

The late nineteenth century witnessed surging interest in the market for popular fiction and the emergence of new genres that responded to and helped to shape public attitudes to empire and criminality through the invention of characters that embodied various forms of heroic and/or demonic masculinity. The ‘Extraordinary Gentlemen’ of this era of popular fiction have retained an appeal that has proved resilient to transformations in attitudes to national identity, class and gender, as well as to the challenging of stigmas associated with ‘otherness’ and queered identities. In this module we will try to understand the basis for the appeal of ‘Extraordinary Gentlemen’ for late-Victorian and Edwardian audiences, and to examine their plasticity and openness to subsequent adaptation.

School of Arts and Humanities

<a href="https://leganto.hud.ac.uk/leganto/readinglist/lists/4804716450004221">EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMAN (hud.ac.uk)</a>

English Literature

AHE3221 - Extraordinary Gentlemen: Masculinity and Popular Fiction in the Nineteenth Century

Extraordinary Gentlemen: Masculinity and Popular Fiction in the Nineteenth Century

Understand the social and historical contexts that shape the creation and reception of popular fiction in a variety of contexts

Understand the role and significance of popular fiction in influencing social attitudes to gender, race and class

Be able to present a persuasive case in oral discussion

Be able to use a range of appropriate skills and multimedia resources to present the outcomes of research in an engaging manner. 

Be able to synthesise insights from a range of critical sources and apply these in the original analysis of literary texts. 

Understand the distinctive qualities and characteristics of the late-Victorian Romance revival. 