Introducing the emergent field of "the history of reading," this seminar examines the New Rhetoric founded in 18th century Scotland and its consequences for literature. Among these was the introduction of English as a college subject; we'll read seminal rhetorical works by the very first professors to teach English literature: Adam Smith (The Theory of Moral Sentiments), James Beattie (On Fable and Romance), and Hugh Blair (Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres). The New Rhetoric was also involved with inventing the idea of creative writing, which established poetry, essay, and novel as the preeminent literary forms. We'll look at how these cultivated a new kind of reader in classic works by Henry Mackenzie, Oliver Goldsmith, Thomas Campbell, and Charles Lamb. We'll look at how this development changed the nature of reading and writing in the romantic era, leading to a ten-fold increase in the number of literary works being published and an equivalent increase in the size of the reading public. Course requirements include class participation (40%) and a 15-20 pp. reseach paper (60%).

Required Texts:

Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments.

Hugh Blair, Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres.

Henry Mackenzie, The Man of Feeling.

Charles Lamb, Essays of Elia.

James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner.

Optional Texts:

Robert Crawford, Devolving English Literature (1992).

John Brewer, The Pleasures of the Imagination: English Culture in the Eighteenth Century (1997).

William St. Clair, The Reading Nation in the Romantic Period (2004).

ETexts:

Goldsmith, The Deserted Village

Burns, The Cotter's Saturday Night

Rogers, The Pleasures of Memory

Campbell, The Pleasures of Hope

Beattie, On Fable and Romance

Scott, Lay of the Last Minstrel

Carlyle, The Hero as Man of Letters

Provisional Syllabus: