Science and Progress in the Novel - Einzelansicht

In this seminar we will discuss negotiations of science and progress in two important novels. Sterne's Tristram Shandy (1759-1765), one of the key texts of the 18^th century, is not only of the earliest and most profound reflections on Enlightenment optimism and enthusiasm about reason, science and progress, but also one of the funniest books ever written. Twain's late 19^th-century novel is one of the earliest instances of time travel in literature; it sends the late 19^th-century Yankee Hank Morgan to Medieval England and pessimistically exposes as illusory the pretensions of the 19^th century to superiority over the Middle Ages. Progress, it seems, is merely the ability to kill more people at the same time. In addition to these two major texts, we will study further literary and philosophical reflections of progress from the 18^th to the 20^th century. Students are asked to buy the Oxford World's Classics edition of Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court which is quickly and cheaply available via Amazon.de. A Reader containing the text of Tristram Shandy and some further material will be available in the copy-shop Reckhammerweg, from early August onwards.
Note: Students are expected to have read Tristram Shandy by the first session. Students who have read the text for the first session are guaranteed a place in this seminar. There may be a reading test.