Carleton University Winter 2012 Department of English Course and Section No: ENGL 4550A Course Title: Studies in Victorian Lit I: Freud and the Victorians Thursdays, 14:35 17:25 210 TB (Please confirm on Carleton Central) Instructor: S. Waldman e-mail: swaldman@connect.carleton.ca Office: 1917 Dunton Tower Office hours: TBA DESCRIPTION: This course will examine an array of psychologically rich Victorian texts and oeuvres through the lens of Freud s own writings on psychology. A premise of this course is that while Freud is generally regarded as a 20 th century thinker, he began formulating his ideas in the 1890s, and as such his conceptions of the subject may be helpful for interpreting modes of subjectivity expressed in Victorian literary writing. We will accordingly perform psychoanalytical interpretations of writings by poets and authors such as Alfred Lord Tennyson, Charlotte Brontë, Christina Rossetti and Robert Louis Stevenson using excerpts from Freud s theoretical writings. Some questions we will consider will be: to what degree do the perspectives on human subjectivity presented in these writings converge with Freudian perspectives? Are there any cultural, literary, and scientific contexts that Freud shares with these writers that help to explain these convergences? Finally, what kinds of limits if any should we implement when applying psychoanalytic theories to texts; for instance, should we analyze authors, personas, or characters? TEXTS: (To be available at Mother Tongue Books, 1067 Bank Street) De Quincey, Thomas. Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (Penguin Classics) Tennyson, Alfred Lord. Selected Poems (Everyman) Brontë, Charlotte. Villette (Signet Classics) Rossetti, Christina. Poems and Prose (Oxford) Stevenson, Robert Louis. Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Signet Classics) Swinburne, Algernon Charles. The Triumph of Time (E-text) Gay, Peter. The Freud Reader (W. W. Norton and Co.)
METHOD OF EVALUATION: The Seminar Presentation (15%) presents, analyzes, and evaluates for roughly ten minutes possible points of convergence and/or divergence between the Victorian text and the Freudian essay while opening up a few possible questions for the class to discuss. It should be provocative and original, though it need not be fully written up; typewritten notes should be submitted. The Practice Interpretation (15%) is a 2-3 pages assignment based on a portion of the Seminar Presentation that should be constructed, polished, sourced and formatted like a brief essay and handed in a week later. As a formal paper it should draw a distinctive conclusion. The Final Interpretive Essay (40%) is a 10-15 pages essay that and may (or may not) be developed out of the seminar presentation and/or the practice interpretation. It should develop a coherent and original interpretation of one or more of the Victorian texts discussed in the class while drawing on at least one Freudian essay, dealing with numerous details from the text, and including some degree of evaluation of the usefulness and adequacy of the Freudian essay(s) for the purpose. The essay should also draw on at least two secondary sources and should be polished and conclusive. The Exam (20%) will test proficiency at discussing a number of sight passages from the Victorian and Freudian readings. The Participation Grade (10%) will assess attendance and participation in the seminar. PLAGIARISM: The University Senate defines plagiarism as presenting, whether intentionally or not, the ideas, expression of ideas, or the work of others as one s own. This can include: reproducing or paraphrasing portions of someone else s published or unpublished material, regardless of the source, and presenting these as one s own without proper citation or reference to the original source submitting a take-home examination, essay, laboratory report or other assignment written, in whole or in part, by someone else using ideas, quotations, or paraphrased material, concepts or ideas without appropriate acknowledgement in an essay or assignment failing to acknowledge sources through the use of proper citations when using another s works, and/or failing to use quotation marks handing in substantially the same piece of work for academic credit more than once without prior written permission of the course instructor in which the submission occurs Plagiarism is a form of intellectual theft. It is a serious offence that cannot be resolved directly with the course s instructor. The Associate Deans of the Faculty conduct a rigorous investigation, including an interview with the student, when an instructor suspects a piece of work has been plagiarized. Penalties are not trivial. They can include failure of the assignment, failure of the entire course, suspension from a program, suspension from the university, or even expulsion from the university. See the Section on Academic Integrity in the Student Conduct Portion of the Undergraduate Calendar. 2
ACCOMODATIONS: You may need special arrangements to meet your academic obligations during the term. For an accommodation request the processes are as follows: Pregnancy obligation: write to me with any requests for academic accommodation during the first two weeks of class, or as soon as possible after the need for accommodation is known to exist. For more details visit the Equity Services website http://www.carleton.ca/equity/accommodation/student_guide.htm Religious obligation: write to me with any requests for academic accommodation during the first two weeks of class, or as soon as possible after the need for accommodation is known to exist. For more details visit the Equity Services website http://www.carleton.ca/equity/accommodation/student_guide.htm Students with disabilities requiring academic accommodation in this course must register with the Paul Menton Centre for Students with Disabilities (PMC) for a formal evaluation of disability-related needs. Documented disabilities could include but are not limited to mobility/physical impairments, specific Learning Disabilities (LD), psychiatric/psychological disabilities, sensory disabilities, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and chronic medical conditions. Registered PMC students are required to contact the PMC, 613-520-6608, every term to ensure that I receive your Letter of Accommodation, no later than two weeks before the first assignment is due or the first in-class test/midterm requiring accommodations. If you only require accommodations for your formally scheduled exam(s) in this course, please submit your request for accommodations to PMC by the last official day to withdraw from classes in each term. For more details visit the PMC website: http://www.carleton.ca/pmc/students/acad_accom.html 3
REVISED FALL TERM SYLLABUS January 5 - January 12 - Introduction De Quincey, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater; Part 1 and Part II The Pains of Opium pp. 74-88 Freud, Civilization and its Discontents, Chapter II and Anxiety and Instinctual Life, 776-79, Presentation 1 Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, p. 1-10 and Civilization and its Discontents, Chapter II, pp. 728-32 Presentation 2 The Pains of Opium pp. 77-83, and Anxiety and Instinctual Life, pp. 776-79 January 19 - De Quincey, Suspiria de Profundis, pp. 97-110, 136-144, and 150-152; Freud, Anxiety and Instinctual Life, 774-776, and The Unconscious, 573-574 Presentation 3 Suspiria de Profundis, pp. 136-44 and Freud, Anxiety and Instinctual Life, pp. 774-776 Presentation 4 Suspiria de Profundis, 150-152 and The Unconscious, 573-574 January 26 Tennyson, The Lady of Shalott, Mariana, and The Lotos Eaters ; Freud, Obsessive Actions and Religious Practices and Civilization and its Discontents, Chapter I Presentation 5 Tennyson, The Lady of Shalott and Freud, Obsessive Actions and Religious Practices, pp. 433-4 Presentation 6 Tennyson, Mariana and Freud, Obsessive Actions and Religious Practices pp. 429-31 Presentation 7 Tennyson, The Lotos Eaters and Civilization and its Discontents, Chapter II, pp. 728-31 February 2 February 9 - Tennyson, Locksley Hall, and Maud; Freud Creative Writers and Day-Dreaming, and Mourning and Melancholia Presentation 8 Tennyson, Locksley Hall, and Freud, Creative Writers and Day-Dreaming, pp. 439-440 Presentation 9 Tennyson, Maud and Freud, Creative Writers and Day-Dreaming, pp. 439-440, Presentation 10 Tennyson Locksley Hall and Freud, Mourning and Melancholia pp. 586-8 Presentation 11 Tennyson, Maud, and Freud, Mourning and Melancholia, pp. 586-8 Brontë, Villette (Volume I); Freud, Formulations on the Two Principles of Mental Functioning Presentation 12 Villette (Volume I, Chapter 4, 97-8* and Freud, Formulations on the Two Principles of Mental Functioning, 301-3 4
Presentation 13 Villette (Volume 1, Chapter 12, p. 175-6*) and Freud, Formulations on the Two Principles of Mental Functioning, 303-4 February 16 - Brontë, Villette (Volume I, Chapter 15 + Volumes II & III); Freud, and On Narcissism: An Introduction, 553-61 Presentation 14 Villette, Volume I, Chapters 15, p. 231-2* and Freud, On Narcissism: An Introduction 560-1 Presentation 15 Villette, Volume II, Chapter 18, pp. 266-9* and Freud, On Narcissism 554-5 Presentation 16 Villette, Volume III, Chapters 34, pp. 485-7* and Freud, On Narcissism 557-9 WINTER BREAK March 1 - March 8 - March 15 March 22 March 29 - April 5 - Rossetti, Goblin Market, So I Grew Half Delirious and Quite Sick, A Chilly Night ; Freud, and Aetiology of Hysteria Presentation 17 Rossetti, Goblin Market and Freud, Aetiology of Hysteria 107-9 Presentation 18 Rossetti, So I Grew Half Delirious and Quite Sick and Freud, Aetiology of Hysteria, 102-3 Rossetti, Maude, Shut Out, The Lowest Place, Somewhere or Other ; Freud, The Dependent Relationships of the Ego (from The Ego and the Id), Presentation 19 Rossetti, Maude (pages TBA) and The Dependent Relationships of the Ego, 652-4 Presentation 20 - Rossetti Shut Out and The Dependent Relationships of the Ego, 657-8 Stevenson, Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde; Freud, Civilization and its Discontents Chapters 3 and 4 Swinburne, The Triumph of Time ; Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle (selections) D. G. Rossetti, selected paintings (on the WebCT) and Freud, On Universal Tendency to Debasement in Sphere of Love, and The Sexual Aberrations (from Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality) Review *Page numbers from Villette to be confirmed 5