On the border of fairyland: Chesterton & London

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course studies G. K. Chesterton, a man of letters, a polymath, and one of the greatest intellectuals of the early twentieth century, as a consummate writer of London. It argues that the capacious and varied body of Chesterton’s fiction offers a lifelong meditation on ‘what it is to live in a city’. From his novel of future London, The Napoleon of Notting Hill, to his metaphysical police thriller The Man Who Was Thursday, to his deeply humanistic Father Brown detective stories, Chesterton ranged across genres and points of view, resisting the temptations of literary conventions and political dogma alike. He captured the poetry of lampposts and the romance of chimneypots, and embraced the infinite complexity of ordinary life in his richly layered explorations of the forms, fashions, quiddities, revelations and wonders of London. While Chesterton has long been read as a reactionary who yearned for a return to a romanticised Middle Ages, this course joins more recent scholarship in reclaiming Chesterton as a resolutely urban writer passionately responding to the problems of modernity. Classes will examine the development of Chesterton’s work and thought, focusing on his lopsided explorations of London through the modes of fantasy, detection, scholarship and journalism. We will focus on close readings of the set texts, with an emphasis on the study of literature in its historical, cultural, and material contexts. The course will argue that as London increased in complexity, density, and vastness, Chesterton grew concerned by Londoners’ increasing alienation from their city and the consequent loss of what he termed ‘local patriotism’ for urban locales. Thus, Chesterton’s fiction sought to restore a sense of wonder and reverence to London by scaling it down to street level and celebrating its irreducible chaos. Class discussions will also explore the abiding fascination with Chesterton and his work in late-twentieth-century and present-day media, from adaptations of the Father Brown stories to mystery novels revolving around lost Father Brown manuscripts to graphic novels featuring Chesterton as a fictionalised character. Students will have the unique opportunity to engage with archival material – manuscripts and typescripts of Chesterton’s books and short stories, his notebooks, sketchbooks, correspondence and art. Recurring visits to the Chesterton Papers at the British Library and an induction to the Notre Dame London’s in-house Chesterton collection form an integral part of this course. Excursions and guided walks through London are woven into our lessons, taking advantage of the unique opportunities afforded by studying Chesterton in London. In addition to the walks that follow the routes and key locations of the set texts, students will visit Chesterton’s home in Beaconsfield and a variety of London libraries and landmarks.