This course examines contemporary (re)configurations of the nineteenth century, a cultural phenomenon commonly known as neo-Victorianism. The temporal proximity and paramount contribution of the Victorian era to the formation of our contemporary present has over the years sparked various responses to nineteenth-century literature and culture, resulting in an abundance of texts that in some way echo, imitate, celebrate, rewrite, criticize or even seek to correct the past. Starting from questions about the (im)partiality of history, the ways in which the past can become accessible nowadays, and the implications of this (un)availability, the first half of the course focuses on the forms (e.g. metafiction), tropes, and practices (e.g. simulation, haunting) that neo-Victorianism employs in order to appealingly revive the past in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Crucially, as we shall see in the second half of the semester, neo-Victorian texts also invest in the promotion of an ethical agenda, outspokenly addressing thorny issues, ugly truths and controversies that have, over time, beclouded the incontestable designation of the Victorian era as an age of progress and modernity, and continue to trouble and complicate contemporary societies. Such thematic concerns revolve around issues of gender and sexuality, extraordinary corporealities, memory and trauma, racial politics within the context of Empire, and scientific debates. Drawing on a variety of popular literary and filmic/televisual texts, supplemented, where appropriate, by authentic Victorian sources, our discussions will attempt to show that neo-Victorian revisitations of the past do not only illuminate a long gone historical period, but, most importantly perhaps, also establish a connection to the present, allowing us to decipher and comprehend our own concerns, preoccupations, and experiences.
Expected learning outcomes
| Semester | Group | Day | From | To | Room | Instructor |
| Winter | Friday | 10:00 | 13:00 | 308 πατ. | Ioannidou Elisavet |
