LIT 3112 Fall 2019 Johnson

This course will introduce you to the vibrant tradition of literature written in Britain from its earliest origins in the heroic Anglo-Saxon period up through the cosmopolitan close of the eighteenth century. Throughout the semester, we will cover more than a thousand years of literary history. We begin with the earliest written literature of our own language, the epic works of Old English, before exploring the magic of Middle English romance, the drama of the Early Modern English stage, and the globalism of the eighteenth century. The goals of this course are twofold: first, to introduce you to the central texts and authors that make up the first “half” (by volume, not by time period) of the corpus of literature written in Britain, and second, to demonstrate the continuity of the British literary tradition as a thriving expression of the social and cultural conditions of its time.