first meeting: 17 April 2012
Charles Dickens's novels are counted among the masterpieces of British literature; many of his literary characters such as Ebenezar Scrooge, Oliver Twist and Little Nell have found their place in British cultural memory, as has indeed Dickens himself. In this seminar, which is part of our "Dickens 200" semester, we will discuss Dickens's novels Oliver Twist and Great Expectations, as well as recent filmic & literary adaptations of these books - among them Lloyd Jones's Mister Pip (2006). We will also Richard Flanagan's fictional Dickens biography Wanting (2008) and short excerpts from Peter Ackroyd's Dickens (1990) and Michael Slater's Charles Dickens (2009). Our focus will not only be on Dickens's works and their rewritings, but we will also critically discuss the engagement of 21st-century culture with one of the most successful writers of the nineteenth century.
We will start with discussing Oliver Twist; students who want to take this seminar should have finished reading the novel by the second week of the semester at the very latest. Students should indeed start reading the texts by Dickens, Jones and Flanagan as soon as possible. Excerpts from Ackroyd's Dickens and Slater's Charles Dickens will be made available at the beginning of term.
In order to attend this course, students must register before the beginning of term. The number of participants is strictly restricted to 33 people. Registration is via CLIX only. Please check the departmental homepage and the department's notice boards for more information on the registration procedures.
Texts: You MUST own NO OTHER than the following editions:
Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. Ed. Fred Kaplan. New York: Norton, 1993. ISBN 978-0-393-96292-5.
Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. Ed. Edgar Rosenberg. New York: Norton, 1999. ISBN 978-0-393-96069-3.
Flanagan, Richard. Wanting. New York: Atlantic Books, 2010. ISBN 978-1848870772.
Jones, Lloyd. Mister Pip. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 2008. ISBN 978-0719521836.
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