EN 351: Romantic Movement

In addition to examining major writers of the Romantic period in England, from the 1770's-1830's, this course will emphasize the role of material and global culture in the formation of the Romantic imagination. Through the study of material objects-collections brought back from global voyages, scrapbooks, letters, journals, women's collections of objects and ephemera--we will access voices from this period often left out of the Romantic canon. Moving beyond Keats, Shelley, Wordsworth, Coleridge and Byron, we will explore this period from multiple perspectives that account for the diverse experiences of people from a variety of social, gender, and racial and ethnic backgrounds, both in Europe and beyond. Special attention will be paid to Romantic writers outside of Europe and to female Romantic authors like Helen Maria Williams, Charlotte Smith, Felicia Hemans, and Jane Austen, as well as to women who contributed to the cultural and literary life of the period through their experiences and collections.