Course Overview
Course Description
In this age, we are all writers of letters even if they do not take on the traditional form of ink on paper. The technology has changed, but the purpose is still the same. An epistolary novel is a collection of letters in book form that tell a story like a novel would through the medium of letter writing. During the 18th century the circulation of actual letters was also popular (travel writing, letters between friends, etc.). An increase in literacy, the circulation of letter writing manuals (that also gave readers moral and ethical advice) and the expansion of the postal system increased the popularity of letter writing.This course will return to the 18th century when letter writing gained popularity as a practical mode of communication and as a medium of artistic expression. It will then follow the evolution of epistolary fiction into the present. Students will read 18th century epistolary works such as Aphra Behn’s Love Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister (fiction) and Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, An African (non-fiction), focusing on the themes and techniques of these works as well as their historical contexts. Students will also read more recent epistolary works, research modern events contributing to the resurgence of the genre and how the letters of the 18th century influenced these works. The class will culminate with the creation of an open access resource using an 18th century and a modern epistolary work as the basis for a larger project about epistolary fiction. Just like the class for which this project serves as the final, this course will know no bounds in terms of time period and origin. Texts will begin in the 18th century and continue into the present and will orginate from Europe, Africa, and America. I have also gone to great lengths to ensure that this syllabus includes little-known and well-known works as well as works by a diverse group of writers.Why Study Epistolary Novels?
- "The English novel first grew into solid form in the eighteenth century...In the course of that century various types of the novel, various 'schools' of writing grew up, some of which have been segregated and described in detail in various critical works. Of utmost importance among these groups, both in achievement and as a 'type' of fiction, is the novel cast in letter form" (Singer vii). Therefore, study of the epistolary novel gives a prototypical view of the beginning of the novel genre.
- Studying epistolary fiction of the 18th century also gives the opportunity to examine how technology, culture, etc effected the field of literature.
- Epistolaries allow writers to experiment with audience and different level of audience intimacy which can be a rich point of discussion in the study of literature.
Course Objectives
- Students will be able to discuss the evolution and history of epistolary ficiton
- Students will be familiar with well-known epistolary works from the 18th - 20th centuries
- Students will be knowledgeable of the current scholarship on epistolary fiction as a genre and individual epistolary works
- Students will be able to construct a project or research paper on an epistolary work