Lecture Visions of Utopia: From Thomas More’s Utopia to Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels

  • Enseignement

    Détails

    Faculté Faculté des lettres et des sciences humaines
    Domaine Anglais
    Code UE-L06.01284
    Langues Anglais
    Type d'enseignement Cours
    Cursus Master, Bachelor
    Semestre(s) SA-2022

    Horaires et salles

    Horaire résumé Mercredi 08:15 - 10:00, Hebdomadaire (Semestre d'automne)

    Enseignement

    Responsables
    • Schindler Kilian Markus
    Enseignants
    • Schindler Kilian Markus
    Description

    The early modern period was not only an age of discoveries, in which Europeans became aware of a whole “new world” in the Americas, it was also an age of imagining better worlds – an age of utopian fiction. While the twenty-first century has been rather sceptical about utopian thinking in the face of overwhelming global challenges such as climate change and shortage of resources, the early moderns vividly imagined and desperately hoped for better worlds. They dreamt of worlds in which tyrants and warmongers would be brought to heel, where God would be worshiped purely and without idolatry, and where humanist learning and eloquence would overcome ignorance and superstition. Some of their visions did indeed come true – but the outcome rarely ever met their expectations. When Thomas More coined the term ‘utopia’ in 1516 in order to describe an ideal commonwealth, he captured this fundamental ambivalence of utopian thinking with a characteristic pun: ’utopia’ means ‘good place’ (gr. eu-topos) – but also ‘no place’ (gr. ou-topos). Can perfect worlds and societies ever exist? And what price is to be paid for attempting to bring them into being?

    In this lecture, we will consider such questions in utopian prose fiction from Thomas More’s Utopia (1516) over Margaret Cavendish’s Blazing World (1666) and others up to Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726). We will also read drama that engages with utopian ideas, such as William Shakespeare’s Tempest (c. 1611), as well as poetry, e.g. selections from John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667). Topics to be discussed in more detail include the relationship between utopian writing and other genres and modes of writing such as travel writing and satire, the relationship between utopian writing and early colonialism, or utopian writing as a form of social and political critique and philosophical speculation more generally.

    Objectifs de formation

    On completion of the lecture, Students will have become familiar with key texts of early modern utopian writing and will be able to situate them in their literary and historical contexts. Students will be able to explain how utopian writing was shaped by – and in turn helped to shape – the major processes of transformation that define the early modern period, ranging from religious reform and political revolutions over geographic discoveries and the beginnings of transatlantic colonialism to visions of social levelling and re-assessments of received gender roles.   

    Softskills Oui
    Hors domaine Oui
    BeNeFri Non
    Mobilité Oui
    UniPop Non

    Documents

    Bibliographie

    All texts will be available online. Students who prefer reading physical books are encouraged to consult The Norton Anthology of English Literature (9th edition, vol. 1; or 10th edition, vols. B and C), which contains many of the texts that will be discussed in this lecture.

  • Dates et salles
    Date Heure Type d'enseignement Lieu
    21.09.2022 08:15 - 10:00 Cours MIS 03, salle 3115
    28.09.2022 08:15 - 10:00 Cours MIS 03, salle 3115
    05.10.2022 08:15 - 10:00 Cours MIS 03, salle 3115
    12.10.2022 08:15 - 10:00 Cours MIS 03, salle 3115
    19.10.2022 08:15 - 10:00 Cours MIS 03, salle 3115
    26.10.2022 08:15 - 10:00 Cours MIS 03, salle 3115
    02.11.2022 08:15 - 10:00 Cours MIS 03, salle 3115
    09.11.2022 08:15 - 10:00 Cours MIS 03, salle 3115
    16.11.2022 08:15 - 10:00 Cours MIS 03, salle 3115
    23.11.2022 08:15 - 10:00 Cours MIS 03, salle 3115
    30.11.2022 08:15 - 10:00 Cours MIS 03, salle 3115
    07.12.2022 08:15 - 10:00 Cours MIS 03, salle 3115
    14.12.2022 08:15 - 10:00 Cours MIS 03, salle 3115
    21.12.2022 08:15 - 10:00 Cours MIS 03, salle 3115
  • Modalités d'évaluation

    Examen - SA-2022, Session d'hiver 2023

    Mode d'évaluation Par note, Par réussi/échec

    Examen - SP-2023, Session d'été 2023

    Mode d'évaluation Par note, Par réussi/échec

    Examen - SP-2023, Session d'automne 2023

    Mode d'évaluation Par note, Par réussi/échec

    Examen - SA-2023, Session d'hiver 2024

    Mode d'évaluation Par note, Par réussi/échec
  • Affiliation
    Valable pour les plans d'études suivants:
    Anthropologie sociale 120
    Version: SA17_BA_bi_v02
    Perspectives pluridisciplinaires (AS-BA17)

    Anthropologie sociale 60
    Version: SA17_BA-bi_v01
    Modules à choix selon le domaine I > Etudiant-e-s en domaine I Sociologie 120 ECTS > Perspectives pluridisciplinaires (AS-BA17)
    Modules à choix selon le domaine I > Etudiant-e-s en domaine I Science des religions à 120 ECTS > Perspectives pluridisciplinaires (AS-BA17)

    Enseignement complémentaire en Lettres
    Version: ens_compl_lettres

    Espagnol 120
    Version: SA16_BA_esp_V02
    M7 - Competencias transversales (CTC)

    Français 120
    Version: SA16_BA_fr_V04
    Module 8 - CTC

    Germanistik 120
    Version: SA16_BA_dt_V02
    Soft Skills

    Histoire 120
    Version: SA16_BA_bi_v02
    CTC > Soft skills 12
    Obligatoire > Module de base Histoire moderne (plan d'études 2016)

    Histoire 120
    Version: SA16_BA_bi_v01
    Obligatoire > Module de base Histoire moderne (plan d'études 2016)
    CTC > Soft skills 12

    Histoire 30
    Version: SA16_BA_bi_v01
    Module à choix > Module de base Histoire moderne (plan d'études 2016)

    Histoire 60
    Version: SA16_BA_bi_v01
    Modules à choix > Histoire moderne > Module de base Histoire moderne (plan d'études 2016)

    Histoire de l'art 120
    Version: SA14_BA_120_bi_v02
    Tronc commun > Module 05 / Soft skills

    Histoire de l'art 120
    Version: SA14_BA_120_bi_v03
    Tronc commun > Module 05 / Soft skills

    Italien 120
    Version: SA22_BA_120_ital_v01
    M8P Softskills

    Italien 120
    Version: SA15_BA_ital_V02
    Soft Skills
    M6 - Complementi

    Italien 120
    Version: SA15_BA_ita_V01
    Soft Skills
    M6 - Complementi

    Langue et littérature anglaises 120
    Version: SA15_BA_ang_V02
    Module Five: Culture & Identity

    Langue et littérature anglaises 30 [MA]
    Version: SA15_MA_P2_ang_V01
    Module 3minor: English Literature I (1500-1780)

    Langue et littérature anglaises 50
    Version: SA15_BASI_ang_V01
    Module 01: English and American Literature

    Langue et littérature anglaises 60
    Version: SA15_BA_ang_V01
    Theory and Texte or Culture and Identity > Module Five: Culture & Identity

    Langue et littérature anglaises 90 [MA]
    Version: SA17_MA_PA_ang_V01
    Modules 5 branches > Module 3: English Literature I (1500-1780)

    Lettres [Cours]
    Version: Lettres_v01

    Philosophie 120
    Version: SA17_BA_bi_v01
    CTC / Softskills > Soft skills 12

    Philosophie 120
    Version: SA20_BA_bi_v01
    CTC / Softskills > Soft skills 12

    Philosophie 120
    Version: SA17_BA_bi_v02
    CTC / Softskills > Soft skills 12

    Philosophie 120
    Version: SH05_BA_bi_v01
    Soft skills > Soft skills 12

    Psychologie 180
    Version: SA19_BA_fr_de_bil_v02
    Module 11 > M11 Soft skills

    Pédagogie / Psychologie 120
    Version: SA20_BA_de_v01_transition
    BP1.7-D Bereichsübergreifende Kompetenzen

    Pédagogie / Psychologie 120
    Version: SA25_BA_major_de_v01
    Modul 7: Wahlkurse

    Pédagogie / Psychologie 120
    Version: SA20_BA_de_v01
    BP1.7-D Bereichsübergreifende Kompetenzen

    Pédagogie / Psychologie 120
    Version: SA25_BA_major_bil_v01
    Module 7 : Cours à choix

    Pédagogie / Psychologie 120
    Version: SA20_BA_bil_v01_transition
    BP1.7-B Bereichsübergreifende Kompetenzen / Compétences transversales

    Pédagogie / Psychologie 120
    Version: SA20_BA_bil_v01
    BP1.7-B Bereichsübergreifende Kompetenzen / Compétences transversales

    Science des religions 120
    Version: SA17_BA_bi_v02
    SR-Compétences transversales ou complémentaires CTC (SR-BA17-120)

    Sciences de l'éducation 120
    Version: SA20_BA_de_v01
    BE1.8-D Bereichsübergreifende Kompetenzen

    Sciences de l'éducation 120
    Version: SA25_BA_de_v01_transition
    Modul 8: Wahlkurse

    Sciences de l'éducation 120
    Version: SA25_BA_major_de_v01
    Modul 8: Wahlkurse

    Sciences de l'éducation 120
    Version: SA20_BA_bil_v01
    Variante B > BE1.7b-B Bereichsübergreifende Kompetenzen

    Sciences de l'éducation 120
    Version: SA14_BA_de_v01_transition
    Softskills

    Sciences de l'éducation 120
    Version: SA20_BA_bil_v01_transition
    Variante B > BE1.7b-B Bereichsübergreifende Kompetenzen

    Sciences de l'éducation 120
    Version: SA20_BA_de_v01_transition
    Modul 8: Wahlkurse

    Slavistique 120
    Version: SA15_BA_slav_V02
    Module 9: Compétences transversales et complémentaires

    Slavistique 120
    Version: SA15_BA_slav_V01
    Module 9: Compétences transversales et complémentaires