This seminar will explore Romantic literature from the early 19th century with a specific focus on Orientalism. The term Orientalism, which describes the Western depictions of and projections on the "Eastern" world (referred to as 'Orient'), has been critically dissected since the late 1970s, but the concept and underlying power dynamic have been around much longer than that. In this seminar, we will have a closer look at how British and Irish Romantics have written about and borrowed from the 'Orient' in their engagements with various conditions in their own contexts. We will look at how questions of authority, despotism, rebellions and gender are tied in with Orientalism in selected texts from the Romantic period at the turn of the century.
Please note that the first three sessions of this seminar will be taught remotely and we will meet in-person from November onwards. Also note that this material for this class will be uploaded on Open Moodle at
https://openup.uni-potsdam.de/course/view.php?id=519
Over the semester, we will read and discuss:
Lord George Gordon Byron, The Giaour (excerpts)
Percy Pysshe Shelley, Te Revolt of Islam (excerpts)
Thomas Moore, Lalla Rookh (excerpts)
Maria Edgeworth, Murad the Unlucky
Robert Southey, Thalaba the Destroyer
