76-434 Literature & Social Change in the 19th Century

9 units, Carnegie Mellon University

From the French Revolution to the Victorian era, literature began to play an explosive role in the forces of political transition and the struggle for social justice. This course studies novels, poetry and prose in relation to both political and industrial revolutions during the rise of empire and capitalism and the road to climate change. We will study apocalyptic novels like Mary Shelley's The Last Man and novels of empire like Jane Eyre and its retelling in Wide Sargasso Sea; poetry about living in revolutionary times by Wordsworth and Phillis Wheatley Peters; and anti-slavery writing such as Ottobah Cugoano's "Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery." Secondary readings for graduate students will draw from a variety of critical traditions such as critical race studies, environmental studies, gender studies, postcolonial studies.

Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)

Offered: Spring 2026

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