Situationships of the 19C

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

A "situationship" is a relationship that breaks norms of monogamy, intimacy, or commitment and is defined by its being UNdefined. This class will take a look at the power dynamics of personal, social, and global "situationships" of 19th century British literature. Each text will engage with this subject in one or more of the following frameworks: 1. On the level of narrative - The text has a classic romantic and/or sexual "situationship" between two(ish) people. 2. On the level of politics/context - The text overtly engages with questions about the British empire/power relations between metropole/colonies and/or globalization. 3. On the level of form - The text uses the classic situationship (1) as a screen to covertly engage with questions about power relations (2). Ex: Persuasion is a ~romance novel~ that just so happens to spend most of its time talking about how great the British navy is...