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Students who have completed this course are familiar with the representation of city and countryside, and the stereotypes involved, also in national and international projections of this dichotomy. They can analyse the political and aesthetic dimensions of representations of landscape and cityscape in various genres, and articulate ideas about its present-day relevance. They can carry out basic research tasks, and report on their findings in a coherent and formally correct research paper.
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The course studies the impact on English literature and culture of two of the most important developments of the last 500 years: industrialisation and the concurrent urbanisation, which began in England. In the light of Raymond Williams's canonical "The Country and the City" as well as more recent ecological (or "green") reflections on the issue, students study the representation of the divide between country and city, and the rise of (old and new) genres that are linked to these developments, such as the pastoral, the city comedy, the country house poem, and later also the pre-romantic and romantic landscape lyrics. The course will also study the transference of the discourse of the dichotomy between city and country to the divide between centre and periphery in a national sense (e.g., Scotland vs. England) and in a colonial context (projections of pastoral ideals to overseas dominions).
Early exit option for international exchange students
Students who are required to return to their home university by the end of December, are allowed to choose an early exit option. Students must always make individual arrangements with the course coordinator. In general, there are two options that can be facilitated:
1. Finishing the course before Christmas break, receiving 5 ECTS for the course.
2. Completing the course by 'distance learning' (extra assignments, papers etc) in the month of January, receiving 7.5 ECTS for the course.
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