106-039 Literary Classics

Usually 25 points of first year English, see Prerequisites.

This subject provides opportunities not only to study various texts commonly regarded as classics of English literature but also to enquire into how they came to achieve this status. Students who complete this subject successfully will understand why literary classics attract competing interpretations; understand why 'literature' and 'literary merit' are contested categories in the history of writing; and develop a critical understanding of both right-wing defences of literary canons and left-wing critiques of them.